Another First - a lace shawl!

I have seen and admired lovely lace shawls made by other knitters and said "nope, can't do it."  Maybe I could make lace table wear, but if I wore a fluttering shawl, I would certainly catch the yarn on something and there would be pulls or tears the very first day, and that would be sad.

But then I had some lace weight yarn that didn't work out for what I bought it for, and one of my Vogue Knitting Magazines had a lovely shawl pictured on the model like a kerchief, so I was game to try it.

I thought it would take me months to knit - skinny yarn, skinny needles, complicated charts... I was wrong.  Three weeks and a day.  When it was off the needles and I laid it out on the towel for a photo it was (drum roll please) actually, awful - bunched up, the lace patterns don't show up, and it was really too small to wear.

But I know about this with lace - it has to be blocked.  Here ts is after a nice soak pinned onto the same towel (camera flash changed the color).

 

After it dried, for better contrast I took it to the sewing room dropped it on a yard of black doupioni silk.  Black Cat Moki came to check it out

 

 and without my having to beg, she immediately agreed to be the model.

Here's how I'll wear it - shown over a yoga t-shirt which is not very elegant.  All that fastidious lace work is fairly well obscured by the gathers around the neck ....

.... but my fellow knitters will know!