FO: Laminaria

It's done! Yippee!!

FO: Laminaria by Elizabeth Freeman
Yarn: Blackberry Ridge Silky Merino in Samarkand Blue
Needles: Size 5 addi lace needles
Cast on: May 18, 2009
Cast off: February 9, 2010

I have loved this pattern since I first saw it. And I love the pattern; it's gorgeous. And Blackberry Ridge's Silky Merino is one of my favorite lace yarns I've used (this is my third shawl with it so far). But for all that, I really didn't love knitting this shawl. With this shawl, I wanted the product. And there are a lot of stitch maneuvers that require a lot of concentration. So I found bits of it fiddly, which is why it had such a prolonged period of hibernation. But, gosh, the end product is gorgeous.

For some reason, the yarn color is impossible to photograph. It's a lovely teal-ish blue. The photo on the vendor website is pretty good, but imagine it slightly iridescent.

This is the second shawl I've knit with this yarn, in this color. And it was a close thing. I had only yards left after binding off.


And the preblocked shawl didn't look altogether that very large. But it was quite bumpy.



Then I gave it a good soaking in my tiny bathroom sink:


I found blocking to be a bit challenging. I had trouble figuring out exactly what shape the shawl wanted to be. Eventually, I settled on this shape, but I'm not 100% sure it was the best option.


Off the blocking board and onto the fence!


Details:



So that's lovely (if I do say so myself). On to the next. Can I knit a circular shawl in 17 days? Or at least use up 1400 yards of laceweight on size 6 needles? We will find out! Knitting Olympics, here I come!