Mom's Shawl...

(Another completed thing that now belongs to Mom.) 

A little while ago I felt like knitting, but I wanted something a little more challenging that just knit/purl variations, so a-Googling I went. 

A few clicks and some reading later, I came across lace knitting (keeping in mind that I didn't really have someone teach me the art of knitting, but rather I taught myself, this was bound to be a bit of a challenge, perfectly suited to my mood at the time). Now from the pictures and photographs I could find on the net, I liked what I saw and it seemed to meet my need for a more complex and perhaps even rather difficult project.

I spent a few hours browsing various sites and seeing what can be done. That was when I came across, and fell in love with, A Midsummer Night's Dream Lace Shawl designed by Judy Anderson (http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/a-midsummer-nights-dream-lace-shawl).

At that point in time the problem for me was, however, that I had so many other projects to do and try that I was rather hesitant to spend money on the pattern. 

I tried (with some limited success) to put it out of my mind and went looking around for something else (there are thousands of free patterns available on just www.ravelry.com, so all I had to do was find one).  Unfortunately nothing else grabbed my fancy as much as Judy Anderson's. 

Once I dreamed about it, literally, I knew that there was no more possibility of refusing it. The Universe spoke. Long story short, I bought it.

I have no regrets. It was a wonderful journey and I loved every moment of it. The pattern, unlike so many others I have encountered, was really easy to follow and all instructions were/are written clearly and plainly. There was never a point at which I had to stop and scratch my head going 'Huh?! What do I do here?/What does that mean?'

All in all, a highly recommended endeavor. 

 

Not the best photo, I know, but it'll have to do...

 

Here are some of my WIP's

 

 

 

 

I know that it is hard to tell from these photos, but there are seed beads all through-out this shawl. In the central design, what Ms. Anderson calls the "forest maze" (my favorite part of the whole thing) there are pearly white beads. If you look really closely you can only just see the light reflecting off of them, but even I have a hard time doing that from just the photos and I actually know exactly where they are...

And then, of course, there are the much easier to see blue beads, all along the bottom edge, Estonian Edging it is called, taking its name from the place of origin of this type of lace knitting.

For those who might be interested in trying this, I only have one or two notes to add:

Make sure that when you wear this, you have something in-between your skin and the shawl as those little glass seed beads are REALLY cold on the back. It gave both of us, Mom and I, a little shock when we tried it on...

 

And finally, although it is not a part of the original pattern, I felt that it needed something along the bottom, just to finish it off, and so I opted to add the teardrop glass beads that you can see in a few of the photos. 

They might look really good, and seemingly finish the shawl off nicely, but I would suggest perhaps using something a little smaller or at the very least made from a different material, something like plastic or wood, anything other than glass; the reason I say that is because it it so noisy when you wear it. It sounds like a belly dancer is following you around all the time, jingling away ceaselessly... Naturally if you like people knowing the you are approaching, glass is a good choice...

 

Well that's it for today.

Until next time,
ACL.

PS. I just want to wish a very happy birthday to my Dad. May the years ahead be filled with many blessings and nothing but happiness. XOXO