Season Shawl Finished!

I'm behind! I have much to post and haven't been keeping up with it. I have some time this morning (before I keep my date with Mr. Potter), so hopefully, I can write some posts and catch up!

First of all, a Finished Object. A Big Finished Object. Meet my completed and blocked Fall/Winter Seasons Shawl. (That's a Ravelry link.) I purchased the kit to make the shawl from Knitpicks, but once it sold out, that haven't re-offered it (hence, no Knitpicks link). Click this link, and see my blog posts relating to the shawl.

I have knit lace before, but never something this large, so it was a New Experience for me. I liked it!

The shawl is designed to move from the beginning of fall (the green section) through several autumn colors in a leaf lace knitting pattern. The fall season fades to winter as burgundy transitions to blue. The blue section is "snow" followed by midnight blue "snow drifts" and then the final granite "icicles." I liked the concept, and I like the finished project.

I had a few challenges with is. First, I must knit at a gauge that is larger than that of the test knitters at KnitPick. I read many posts on Ravelry about the shawl, and some people were running out of yarn. I ordered extra -- great idea, since as I ran out, I had what I needed.

There are a few errors in the pattern, as noted on the Knitpicks site. Anyone knitting it should go and get the errata page! I also found a difficulty in the row that knits into the triple yarn overs -- it's very near the end of the pattern. There is an extra stitch that is not accounted for in the pattern. I just knit it, but I'm not sure that is the best result -- the point of each icicle is a little off to the side because of the extra stitch. No big deal, but I would rather it be symmetrical.

So, its specifications:

Pattern: KnitPicks Fall/Winter Seasons Shawl (not available at this point from KnitPicks)

Yarn: KnitPicks Shadow lace yarn (held double) as follows (number following color name is the number of hanks of yarn I used):

Forest Heather -- 1
Persimmon Heather - 1
Sunset - 2 (one more than kit)
Vineyard - 1
Nocturne Heather - 3 (one more than kit)
Midnight - 2 (one more than kit)
Basalt - 2 (one more than kit) -- I only needed the second hank for two rows!

Needles: I used KnitPicks Harmony needles, US size 5, and I just kept changing the cord as I needed it to be longer. I bound off with double pointed, US size 9. It didn't need to be double pointed, but it worked just great.

Size: Oh, bigger than the pattern says it will be (which explains the extra yarn). It measures 104 inches across the top. I can't remember the back to point measurement. I like the size. It's large, but great to wrap up in.

Images: I took the shawl with me for a college visit with my son. I knew we would be in places that would make great backgrounds for a photo shoot. The first one -- the official "finished object" photo, is on the campus of West Virginia Wesleyan College. The next one is in our room, and it shows the transitions and stitches to best advantage. The last one is at Stonewall Resort, outside at sunrise. I picked it because it shows the holes (isn't that a strange reason to pick an image?).