Wednesday, March 07, 2007

FO Pictures







I did the washing, blocking, and writing last night but I had to wait until this morning for the light of day to snap decent pictures of the Hidcote Shawl stretched out in all her glory. Can you believe how black and mucky the wash water was? You couldn't even tell there was lots of liquid soap in the water because there were no bubbles to be seen. I've always believed that blocking lace is a magical process and this shawl was no exception. and while the lace was beautiful last night, when I went into the family room this morning and looked again in the daylight it was as if it was a different shawl. The light absolutely danced across the texture of the upper section of the shawl. I hope you can see just a bit of that effect in the pictures, although my camera can't do justice to it at all. The plain stockinette of the diamond motifs seemed almost bland in comparison to the top and bottom sections where the yarn swirls and ripples with life. It truly was a magical moment for me.

Hidcote Garden is a large shawl--large enough to wrap around my not-so-small-being and cover everything that benefits from being covered if you know what I mean. I can't sing the praises of the design enough. It was a joy to knit! And while it's not a first lace shawl project, Hidcote Garden is definitely attainable for the ambitious advanced beginner or intermediate lace knitter. And one more thing, the ColourMart cashmere that I used was an ideal choice for this shawl. I would absolutely recommend Richard's 2/28 laceweight or 4 ply cashmere for this project. You'll never wrap up in anything else more lovely or more luxurious than this!

7 comments:

Kat said...

WOW!! That is one gorgeous shawl, and I'll bet it's even more stunning in person.

I might have to buy that pattern one of these days. So far I've managed to resist, and I strengthen my resolve by looking at my OTN list.... LOL!!

Glad you were able to recover from having the yarn snap!! Way scary!

Anonymous said...

That turned out beautiful, love the color!

Sande Francis said...

I never did care for that shawl based on other photos I saw, but YOURS is drop dead gorgeous!!! You did a great job and I know you will enjoy that nice big snuggly shawl.

Reluctant Penguin said...

Incredibly, unbelievably, absolutely gorgeous! I've been resisting, but now have to add this shawl to my "must knit" list. Thanks for sharing your photos.

AlisonH said...

That's absolutely gorgeous!

Tonni said...

This is absolutely breathtaking! I have been wanting this pattern for quite some time but the size of the finished product is just tooo big for my short frame. I may have to rethink this :)

Cindy, aka Maxfun said...

the Hidcote is gorgeous! I love the color, too. Great job!