Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Myrna’s Diamond Shawl
A couple of weeks ago Myrna finished knitting her version of the Diamonds on the Diagonal pattern. You may have seen Myrna working on her shawl in my "Glorious Garter" blog entry.She asked me to help her with the final--and critical--stage of blocking the shawl.
This is such an important phase of all lace knitting and will transform a lumpy piece of work into a stunning result. A "real caterpillar into a butterfly" transformation.
With Myrn'as shawl, because it was a silk yarn (Tilli Tomas Silk with Sequins), we were also able to significantly increase the size of the shawl. The pre-blocked length was 54 inches. The blocked version was 63 inches long.
I was particularly excited about seeing the final version of this pattern because it was another example of how a knitter with imagination can take a knitting design and make it his/her own--through choice of yarn and making various adjustments to the pattern. Myrna increased the number of repeats both horizontally and vertically to turn a scarf pattern into a graceful stole.
As lovely as the shawl was before blocking, it was something else once we removed it from the blocking table two days later.
Myrna has made this as a special gift for a friend. Lucky friend!
