It Looks Like The Picture!

Ever since I first saw the Icarus Shawl in an IK magazine, I have loved it. Light, ethereal, elegant, and simple. To me, it was and still is, a thing of beauty. I have been looking for a reason to make it. This spring, the reason came in the form of a commission. The woman I work for has 2 children getting married this fall and she asked if I would make a shawl for one of the brides. Seeing as how neither she nor the bride-to-be knit, I selected a couple books, magazines, and web patterns for them to look at. The Icarus Shawl was one of the patterns selected! I consulted with my aunt, who has been knitting since birth...practically, to help me choose the pattern I could reasonably complete in the amount of time I had. The Icarus was mostly fairly simple, straightforward knitting with a lace border. I could do that. The mother-in-law-to-be and I headed to my favorite LYS to choose the yarn and I put it in a project bag, waiting for the time when I could start.

On our way to Alaska and back towards the States, I worked on my niece's graduation afghan...that's another post...and when we landed in CA for a few days, I finished the blanket and started the shawl. Well, to be honest, continued the shawl. I started it while watching My Farmer play in a softball tournament on Father's Day.

It was addictive knitting. The perfect project. Simple and sort of mindless for a while and then when I thought I couldn't repeat the chart one more time, I was done with the first chart and moving on to the fun, lacey part. Each chart was a milepost, telling me that I was getting closer to the end and to the magical part.

Finally, this weekend, I finished it. With two weeks to spare before the wedding.

Here it is.

Icarus Shawl
by
Miriam Felton

Yarn: Crystal Palace Kid Merino
8 skeins
2 strands held together
Colorway: Misty Lilac

Needle: US size 3

Finished size: 84" wide X 42 " to the point
It's a bit bigger than the pattern said but the bride is tall.

Before the Magic

After the Magic of Blocking

It looks like the Picture!
(why am I surprised?)

Cleaning Not So Much

This picture is old...last fall...but it pretty much sums up my attitude on the whole House Cleaning Thing.
Sad, but true.

Moving Over, Starting Over

Just a quick post, mainly an accountability post, to state for the record that I am blogging now. I have been, in a stop/start/stop...sort of way. I've been blogging at shewhoknitsandreads but I've decided...again...to make this my blogging home. I'll leave that one up but no more activity there...like there's really been a lot of activity anyway.