Bloom!
This shawl has sucked the life out of me! (My temporary blogging hiatus has even prompted an ex to call me and ask when I was going to post. I'm now imagining all sorts of lurkers out there... Hi mom! Hi Chloe!).
Pattern Specs:
Pattern: Blumengruss Shawl (aka "Bloom", aka "My Maid of Honor's Shawl for Mom's Wedding!"), from The Art of Heirloom Knitting. I bought the book at Kinokuniya at Rockefeller Center, where I spent the better part of an hour looking at every single japanese craft book they had. It was hard to narrow it down to 2 books! (I also got a sewing book of skirt patterns, and realized when I got home that all the skirts come in one size. And I don't think I'm that size...).
Yarn: Habu Wool Roving, a-81, 8 oz (224 g), or 1,488 yds. I used almost all of it! Since this yarn is $2.80/oz, I spent a grand total of $22.40! Yarnmonster and Gleek wisely bought 8 oz each...
Marie generously allowed me to use her dyes, and the result was this beautiful blue/green color. 
Needles: Oh, lots and lots. I made the first piece, a triangle on 2.75 mm (US 2) needles (which you can't really see in any of these pictures because it's in the folded-over part), then started the Feather and Fan along the edges of the triangle on 3 mm (also US 2!) needles. I was supposed to switch to 3.25 mm (US 3) half-way through, but I forgot... Then the edging was knit on 3 mm (US 2) needles. So this entire shawl has been knit on size TWO needles. Whoa. I didn't realize that...
Notes: Edgings take forever. For-freaking-ever. I thought I could bang it out in a week, then forgot that I was going to a conference for the first 3 days of that week, where every minute of the day was accounted for from 8 am to 11 pm. You can imagine how frantic I was by the end of the week... My deadline was looming... I knit on the train to Boston (Subway Knitter was right: the Acela is awesome!). I knit in the cab on the way to the hotel. I knit throughout the rehearsal (oh yes I did!). I knit throughout the rehearsal dinner. I knit until 3 AM. I knew it would be worth it: the wedding day was supposed to be cold and rainy. And then... Well. It turned out to be warm and sunny. *sigh* I did wear the shawl for about 5 minutes, and my aunt Tathy noticed and snapped a pic :) Hey, I wonder if she's lurking?
Date started: Well, the yarn was dyed on March 11th, and I started soon after that.
Date finished: April 28. Wow, that was long!
Sunny room and wheel courtesy of Yarnmonster.
Labels: blumengruss shawl
