As Promised

I completed MMario's Queen Anne's Lace four days ago, and it's now blocking on one of our spare beds. As you can see, it's really too wide for the bed and I had to pin those points down over the side. I don't think it's much of an issue.The yarn was a gift from Witt, a couple months before he passed on. A friend of his had handspun it, but since lace wasn't so much his thing, he graciously passed it on to me. I still have quite enough of one ball to do something for me. It's a lovely mix of color that overall looks very like you see it here. It has slubs of hot pink and blue, and hints of cream. I think it's a wool/mohair mix, and it's taking blocking very well.

You can see the edge detail here. There are several different ways that people have blocked this shawl. Some block the diamond points as well, or instead of the ones I used. MMario's original was blocked as a flat circle. I looked at them all and preferred this effect.

And here's a center detail showing the beginning of the QAL's exquisite spiral. It reminds me of a mandala, as do many of MMario's designs. I'm still hoping for the Compass Rose he's mentioned. The man is brilliant, and I'm so glad I helped set up his group almost two years ago.

This shawl will be a gift to my mother-in-law, Dorothy. Her birthday is the 8th, and we're all gathering next weekend, so I will get the maximum brownie points with all the family there to see it. :-) Since I haven't told them about this blog - the better to kvetch when I need to! - no one will spoil the surprise because they saw it here. Dorothy loves purples as much as I, and has a friend in church who, she tells me, wears the most beautiful shawls. As subtle hints go, it was a little broad, but hey, at least she didn't use a baseball bat.

Seriously, she's a lovely lady who's gone on very bravely after losing her husband of 51 years. She deserves something pretty in which to wrap herself.