Astrid - finally finished, and more knitting

Looking at the project page on Ravelry I cannot understand why it took me one year and two months to finish this shawl - especially because all the parts were knitted within 3 months, on and off. The blocking proved to be a bit of a challenge, not having a blocking board or a surface large enough to do them all in one go. Once I dealt with the blocking, I encountered the next challenge: sewing the parts together. I normally like sewing, but the prospect of weaving in 50 odd ends wasn't really so appealing, and so it wasn't until two weeks ago that I gave myself the proverbial kick in the backside and did it. It took me two evenings in front of the TV (and on my knees on the floor) to do the job, and guess...it wasn't even such a pain as I thought it would be!

The colours are a bit too pale because of the bad light condition, though.
Follow this link to see the original shawl, and here you see my version modelled by my patient assistant, in the real colours (thanks to sunshine!):


A few stats:
Yarn: Tapestry by Rowan col.172 (Pot-Pourri)70% wool and 30% soybean
Needles: US 3 / 3.25 mm; US 8 / 5.0 mm; US 10 / 6.0 mm
Quantity used: 4.5 skeins, 50g each, total of 589.5 yards (539.0m)

Staying with a similar colour, I finished another scarf I've been battling for a while. I give you Tudor Grace:



Yarn: Lei by Posh Yarns, col.High Society, (4ply sock weight, 65% super merino, 20% bamboo, 15% silk)
Needles: US 5 / 3.75 mm
Quantity used: 1 hank/100g, total of 350.0 yards (320.0m)

I did not "feel the love" for the pattern when I started, although I loved the way it looked, and when I made a mistake when I had just done about 10 repeats I decided to frog it. The new start proved to be luckier, and I managed to finish it quickly. I must say that the photos are definitely lighter than the real colour of the yarn, which is a middle burgundy:

- top marks to the yarn, Lei by Posh Yarns, which is lovely to work with.

I think I am getting addicted to lace knitting... I have already started two more projects, but I shall leave them for another post :)

Finally, the obligatory bun picture, this time of Winston, dated 14 April 2007:

and next time I will tell you his story :)