My shawl is finished! The pattern was a breeze (Magic Carpet Ride by Susan Pandorf), the silk was a dream to work with, the beads look great, just like little dew drops… but… two things are not exactly as I would wish.
The first I already saw coming. The number of beads at the ends of the shawl make it stretch lengthwise, so even after a good blocking it loses its width. That’s a shame, but it’s still pretty. However, when I compared the silk to my dress, I didn’t take into account that the shawl would have many holes, and that you would see my skin under it, while there is ivory satin under the lace of my dress. So when I tried the shawl on together with my dress, my skin kind of influenced the perceived colour of it, making it look a little dirty. Okay, the ivory is not 100% exactly the same colour as the dress, but it’s very close. I was quite surprised about this unexpected effect.
So… time to start on something new! I will probably dye this shawl in a nice colour, perhaps I will even give it a try to dye it purple for the wedding, but I’m inspired again as well. I have this really nice skein of Posh Valerie in the colourway “Let your hair down”, a vibrant cool purple laceweight yarn, and I’ve just started knitting it into a variation of a half pi shawl. I’m planning on using the Niebling pattern from the ring pillow in this shawl as well… and maybe some beads…
Oh well, I still have four weeks to figure out what I want, and even if I don’t wear a shawl at all at my wedding (I’ve got a shrug in case it gets cold), I will have had a lot of fun knitting all these amazing patterns!
Ach jeetje, ja, dat zijn van die onverwachte tegenvallers. Maar het is een prachtige shawl!