Here my brother assists until my mom points out that I'm going to have trouble pulling the inelastic silk over the top of the bottle. Luckily it's dad to the rescue with a wooden dowel.
He takes over holding the yarn, a task he used to perform for his mother and grandmother back in the old country. Note he's wearing the handknit socks which were last Christmas' present.
Once the gorgeous silk was wound I wasted no time in casting on for the Forest Canopy Shawl which I'd been dreaming of since I saw WendyKnits' version. I knit away on it during the week between Christmas and New Years, and was thrilled to finish casting off at 11:37pm on December 31st. I also got a set of blocking wires for Christmas and I was so excited to use them that I forgot to take the obligatory pre-blocking photo in which the lace looks like cat puke (although if my cat puked up something that colour I would be very very concerned). This will have to do for the pre-blocking photo:
After leaving it to dry overnight I awoke to this beauty (gorgeously photographed by the boyfriend's new digicam).
And since knitters love pictures here's a shot of the edging
And a detail of the leaves
Heather's hubby went a little crazy playing with the settings on the camera which resulted in this artsy shot
And, of course, no finished object post is complete without a picture of it being worn
(Please ignore the squinty eyes; I'd just gotten new glasses)
The flash really lights up the shine in the silk. I think the colour is most true in the first picture of me wearing it.
This was a beautiful yarn to work with. It's thin but not too much so, more like thin sock yarn than lace weight. It's so soft and shiny; I think it's spoiled me for other lace yarns.
The Forest Canopy Shawl was a great pattern. It's perfect for a first lace shawl or for someone who has been burned by lace in the past (damn you Swallowtail with your stupid nupps! I will conquer you yet!). It's an easily memorizable pattern and very customizable. I will definitely knit it again.
