I can now report that I finished the big surprise project mentioned in my last post. It was an Icelandic knitted lace shawl that I made for my sister for her birthday. More than anything, I wanted to make this for her, but to have it ready in time I had to drop everything else and set to knitting like a maniac.
The beginning pictures are in my last post. These are some "in progress" shots (this might be boring for some, but I know you knitters out there are interested).
Once completed, it seemed way small. I only hoped that blocking would solve that (and it did....sorta). I'd never blocked anything before so this was new to me. First I got the thing thoroughly soaking wet....
Art nailed some styrofoam sheets to the sunny side of a shed wall....
....but the stretching and pinning didn't hold, so I had to try a different tack. I laid the styrofoam down horizontally, put a big sheet of cardboard over it, then a towel over top and that worked much better.
From a different angle....
some close-ups (can you tell I'm proud?)...
The final work of art, being modelled by it's recipient....my lovely sis.
