Empty Nest

The Forest Canopy Shawl and the Feather And Fan Stole Leave Home

We all know how it goes. One day we're winding off a ball of yarn from a beautiful skein, picking out a pattern, and casting on. The next we know, we're blocking a finished project. The blocking is a rite of passage for a lace project. After it's blocked, it wants the car keys, stays out after curfew, and leaves home as soon as it can.

Here's my Forest Canopy Shoulder Shawl being blocked. It's not really visible, but there's a plastic-covered wire cable threaded through the top edge and tied to the front legs of the day bed. The points are pinned out with clear push pins, except for the two Clover blocking pins in the top corners. There's carpet under the sheet.

Here's a close-up of the blocked leaves. See how flat and regular they are? They didn't look at all this good before the blocking.

Here's a photo taken outdoors, in the sun. The shawl is lying on a Natal Orange bush with the leaves and the scalloped edge plain to see.

Here's its big sister, the feather and fan stole. It's strung on two lengths of cable, which are tied to the frame of the day bed (that white blob in the upper left corner is a paper towel wrapped around the arm of the bed, to keep the wire from rubbing the finish off). This gives nice straight edges, except that I can't tie the cable tight enough, so it bows in just a bit and is pinned out straighter. The scallops at the ends are also pinned, but gently, not drawn into points like on the other shawl.
Here it is, lying on a bougainvillea and showing off its fans, its feathers, and its garter-stitch edge.
It's a little washed-out in the sunlight. The colors in the previous photo are more accurate.

And here's the shawl with its new owner, ready to leave for its new home.

The stole is departing with it, for another new home. The two new owners are sisters and they assured me the shawl and the stole would see each other frequently.


Meanwhile, back at the ranch....

The Argosy Baby Blanket keeps growing. I've had to switch to the longest Options cable to lay it out this flat. I'm exactly half done with the last increase-side pattern repeat, the sixteenth. It's got 373 stitches in 31 repeats. I'm on the fourth ball of yarn.


Here's a different view, looking down the rows. See how the columns are quite rounded, so that the yarn overs and decreases aren't readily visible except as dips.

Here's the view across the rows, with the columns patted flat and a little apart to show off the yarn overs and decreases.

And here's another photo of it in its entirety. I think I can see some color patterns in it. Does anyone else see them? "Trends" might be a more accurate description than is "patterns", now that I look again.