Monday, January 07, 2008

Lace Milestone!

The many hours of silky, slippery knitting have come to fruition with the completion of the Swallowtail Shawl!

It is officially cast off and tails woven in :)
IMG_2876
I felt so happy and to be honest, proud too, when I finally bound off and had my finished shawl in my hands. It feels a very special sort of thrill of excitement and anticipation that I'll be gifting the shawl to my paternal Gran :)
IMG_2877
Living with a scrumptious tradesman has numerous advantages, one of which is the amount of unusual and specific toolery present in the household and workshop! Including.. Stainless TIG filler wire or in a knitter's perspective - blocking rods!
pre block swallowtail detail
I very careful threaded the top edge of the shawl onto two of the rods, slipping the rod through the little eyelets at the very top, then doused it in water to soak. The rods made this a little more tricky but there was no way I was going to be threading rods into lace when it was WET!
soaking swallowtail
Then to the blocking - my first real attempt at blocking something other than a long straight scarf.
swallowtail block detail
Aided by the scrumptious Skoot I braced those top rods and then began pinning out the lace on our spare mattress.
swallowtail block detail angle
Slowly the lace opened up more and more, like slow-burning magic, or watching a flower bud in time-warps photography - awesome!
swallowtail block detail 2
Gently drawing out the yarn, and meticulously pinning the shawl would have to be the most exciting knitterly moment so far, I have to say. As I crawled around on the mattress I was overflowing with then excited tension of the moment and thinking of nothing else! A very mindful moment, really :)
blocking swallowtail

Overall I am completely smitten by lace work, and very pleased with how the swallowtail shawl came out. At this stage it feels just a little bit little, but that's ok.
blocked swallowtail
So all that remains is to unpin the shawl this morning, now that it is completely dry. We're having dinner with my Gran this evening, so I shall unveil her secret knitted goodie to her :) I have to admit I'm a little hesitant about unpinning the shawl.. it feels as if when I let loose the pins the whole shawl will spring back to it's shrunken original size! But I will have faith in the Blocking Gods.. I will..

p.s. I've just realised looking over the post that I'm wearing my Ravelry shirt in the blocking photo! Completely unintentional, but very fitting I must say!!

7 comments:

2paw said...

Wow, the blocking makes the pattern look so beautiful. It looks so gorgeous!! Perfect in fact. Love the colours too!!!

Anonymous said...

Looks fabulous :)

Hel Gibbons said...

Gorgeous :D

pinky-yin said...

Its absolutely stunning! you did a fantastic job. great photography too... :)

Anonymous said...

This is beautiful!!!!!!

Ann said...

Congratulations on your 1st lace project - you did a great job & the shawl looks fantastic. Love the colors.

Lushorama said...

Stunning!!! You're right to feel proud of yourself!