Six skeins of luscious yarn + a fascinating pattern + an arbitrary deadline = a lot of fun.
I blocked the Event Horizon Pi Shawl the day after I finished it. Remember that it was only 40″ in diameter off the needles?
I knew it would grow, so Mike and I moved around a little furniture in the guest room, laid down a sheet, and hope there’d be enough room.
Then it was into the sink while I went for a walk, then back to drain, squeeze, roll, stomp, and then up to the guest room. I measured the centre at 3.5′ from the things I couldn’t move: the closet doors and the table with the loom on it. I figured I could go under the bed if I had to, and there was more room on the opposite side from the table.
I started with each 16th marker. If I’d been smart, I would have done them in four sets, so there would have been only four colours all the way around. It would have made checking the right-angles easier. It wasn’t difficult, per se, but I did spend a bit of time counting pins as I did the third and fourth sets to make sure I was measuring the right ones. I also just eyeballed the angle, rather than dig out a protractor to make sure it was 90 degrees. It took about an hour to get these sixteen pins right, but after that, it was easy sailing.
I blocked it hard. No word of a lie, even though I put the first pins in at an angle, some of them were pulled almost out by the time I got around to them when adding the pins in between. It dried under a lot of tension, and I admit to being a little worried, even though I knew the yarn could take it.
And it grew. From 40″ in diameter to almost 72″. Exactly what I’d hoped, and what I’d wanted when I ordered the sixth skein of yarn. I’m 6′ tall on a good day, and was sure that a 5′ diameter shawl just wouldn’t hang as well on my frame as a 6′ one. And…
Boy, was I ever right (and yes, you actually get to see my face for this one 😉 ). Special thanks to those at RCY South when I got there for figuring out how I should wear it, and loaning me the shawl pin, because that there, that’s got to be the best way to wear a circular shawl.
And don’t let anyone tell you a lace shawl can never be warm, because by the end of the class, I needed to take it off, I was getting too hot! Now with spring here (hopefully… oh, I hope so), maybe I can trade a jacket for the shawl on a nice day.
Final opinion on the Event Horizon Pi Shawl: I wouldn’t necessarily recommend the pattern for a beginner lace knitter, but someone who’s done a little bit of lace knitting shouldn’t have too many problems. Stitch markers are your friends. This yarn is amazing: great colour, and took that hard block like a pro. I would do something different with Lace Circle 5 if I were to knit it again. And would I knit this again? Yes, I actually think I would. It was that much fun.
