Birch (Adriana)

Birch is done! And I may have gotten a little carried away with the pictures (dial-up users beware!).

First the details:
Pattern: Birch by Sharon Miller from Rowan 34
Yarn: Rowanspun 4ply in Midnight from Cucumberpatch on ebay (yarn held doubled)
Needles: 5mm
Modifications: Because of the heavier yarn I eliminated two repeats of the pattern, casting on 279 instead of 299 stitches
Date started: February 5, 2007
Date finished: February 19, 2007
Thoughts: this was a really fun pattern to knit. It was easy to memorize and easy to read so you can put it down and pick it up whenever you want. It's fun to start with the super long rows since they keep getting shorter and shorter. The last 10 repeats flew by. I was terrified of running out of yarn but I made it with about 4m to spare. I would definitely recommend this project to anyone and I will probably make several more.

Now for the pictures!

Birch unblocked (note the small amount of yarn left)


Blocking on my bed
This was a challenge because I didn't have much time to do it before I had to rush off to work. I had managed to get it stretched and pinned but then I realized that it was actually lopsided. Before I could fix it the fire alarm went off. Luckily it isn't noticeable when worn.


I call this picture "Birch Road" because I feel like I'm staring down a road made of Birch as the pattern becomes more and more obscure. Plus I really like the name.

While I was waiting for the boyfriend to come home so he could take pictures of me modelling my new shawl, I decided to venture into the courtyard of my apartment building to get some pictures of Birch amid the greenery. I had a vague idea of posing it on a Birch tree but I quickly realized that we don't actually have any Birch trees in the courtyard. (I was so relieved that I could remember what a Birch tree looks like. My dad has a degree in forestry so I really don't have an excuse to get that wrong.) I decided to post the shawl on other trees but I may have picked a bad day for this photographic experiment. The winds were gusting around 60km/h which made things very very challenging.


Birch on the snow (just when I would get it to lie flat the wind would toss it around again)


Birch on a bush


Birch in the wind


Birch in the tree (my favourite picture)

After this I went inside to thaw my poor fingers and wait for the arrival of my photographer.


A shawl this large is very hard to take a proper picture of without also seeing lots of furniture. As you can see, this shawl is HUGE! It's longer than my wingspan and the point goes down to the back of my knees. But it is so warm!


Birch in motion (this is what happens when you go to answer a knock on door during a photographing session)


Finally, a happy knitter with her shawl

Thanks for looking! Now I'm off to finish a couple of projects to clear up some space on the sidebar.