I didn’t do the next repeat. Here’s a really, really awful picture of the unblocked Beaded Diamond Fantasy Shawl:
Click on the picture – it definitely looks better bigger. Anyway, I’m SO glad I decided not to go on – first off – this thing is 56″ unblocked – hell – it’s not even stretched out at all. And it’s heavy – between the beads and the yarn another repeat might have sent it over the edge. I added beads below the bind off edge – where the middle of the diamond would’ve been had I done the next repeat, but right now the edge is folding over on it and you can’t see it. And that edge! MY GOD! I can not sing the praises of the I-cord bindoff enough. It’s GORGEOUS! But it also took me like five hours to do. Granted I took breaks every now and again, but still. See that red thread running through? That’s some left over STR that I’m using to do Stephanie’s blocking trick for straight edges. She threads in a piece of waste yarn much bigger than the biggest size you might want to block the piece and then pulls tight. I forgot with the last shawl but I was smart this time. Here’s hoping it works better than pins across the straight edge.
So today I’m off for some knitblogger play. Lorette is in town! YAY! and we’re going to go yarn shopping and a couple of friends might join us. The more the merrier!
Obervation: Last night I was laying in bed – Georgie came home late – and I had just finished watching this super scary PBS show on The Donner Party. The pictures of these people? The true definition of haunted. They labeled the freaking body parts so people didn’t have to eat their own kin. WOW. Oh and by the way – is there anything that Ric Burns HASN’T made a documentary about? I digress. G and I were laying in bed flipping around the tv and he landed on Jay Leno. Robin Williams was the guest. As we were laying there laughing, I had that feeling I sometimes get – I am a grown-up. Nothing says grown-up to me like late night talk shows. It brings me back to my childhood – when my parents would watch Johnny Carson and I would wake up and wander into their room – they were laughing at things I didn’t understand. It was a grown-up thing. Weird huh. I’m the grown-up (sort of) now. Sometimes it feels really good. It’s nice to get the jokes.
Oh, I remember joining my mom and dad while they watched late night TV!!! They always had a basket of Charlie Chips potato chips (came in a can–delivered to the house, like our milk did, for goodness sake) glass of ice cold Coca Cola (we didn’t call it Coke then), and Carson on TV. I, too, feel very adult after sending the kids off to bed, pouring a glass of my fav beverage, and munching on some chips (or popcorn)–how weird is that? Thanks for taking me back, Cara.
That’s for the blocking reminder, that’ll come in handy with the Trellis I’m working on. Diamond fantasy looks great so far, I love really geometric things.
The DFS looks fantastic. How many repeats did you end up with? Can you remind me how you attached the beads (pre-strung, crochet, etc.) and where you got them? They absolutely make the shawl IMHO.
The shawl is gorgeous and a wonderful accomplishment. You’re going to look fab in it!
That shawl will be stunning. Heck, it already is stunning. I can’t wait to see its metamorphosis.
It is funny when that grown-up thing hits you, isn’t it? You’re doing all the grownup things, and reasonably well, too, and… hey. When did this happen?
It’s beauteous!
Have a great time today!
The shawl looks great. I can’t wait to see it in all of its blocked glory. The grown up things are always the things I least expect and hit at the oddest times. Have a great day – yarn shopping sounds like the perfect way to spend a day.
Man, I want to see that show on the Donner party. It’s not showing on my local PBS channel, though. The shawl looks fabulous – I love the beads. We’ll have modeling shots, right? When you get all dressed up to go to the wedding?!
Love it! Great blocking trick. I know I have read it…and I should have done that. I will on this current shawl. I can’t wait to see your beaded version…I am planning one because of you!
Ah, you knew the right thing to do. DFS is going to be fabulous. Can’t wait to see her unfurled.
The shawl is fabulous. If you can find a copy of the April 24 issue of The New Yorker, there is a very good article about the Donner Party. It outlines the attempts of several historical anthropologists to prove/disprove what may be the very blown out of proportion story of cannibalism. Fascinating.
I can’t wait to shop and meet you!
Every once in awhile I still get that odd thought; the one where I slap myself upside the head and say, oh yeah, I AM the grownup here. Weird.
The shawl is beautiful!
I totally remember my parents watching Johnny Carson too…so funny.
your shawl is beautiful!! all that hard work paid off, congrats!! can’t wait to see it blocked
I would totally consider knitting the lace and this pattern if I could figure out how to make it into a rectangel if that would work. I am jsut not a triangle kind of girl… hmmmpfh *sigh*
will look gorgeous on you though I am betting 🙂
I love 1) the photo I got in the header this time, 2) your thoughts on feeling like an adult and something associated with it, and 3) that you didn’t do the extra repeat on the shawl. I was afraid you would and thought “it’s really going to be quite big enough.” The beaded DFS shawl is so beautiful – such a work of art. You’ll feel very elegant and beautiful wearing it. 🙂
Oh! You get meet Lorette – so jealous!! I love the Burns documentaries…do not mock!
😉
The shawl will be gorgeous on you. Pictures in all your [blocked] finery, please!
The grown-up thing hits us all differently. For a friend and me, it was food: for her, when she discovered she liked the combination of chocolate and… fruit. For me, warm salads. Weird.
In the words of Waylon Jennings (cribbed, more or less, from another blog), “This is not a dress rehearsal. The is the real thing, and we are professionals.”
girlfriend — the shawl looks great! and I watched that Donner Party special too – egad what a bunch of doomed souls.
and your daily newsflash: you’re not a grown up, I don’t care how many jokes you get or how late you’re allowed to stay up at night. As long as Spaghetti O’s are making their way down your throat, you’re definitely at the kids’ table.
Oh, that Donner Party show is one of my favorites. I just love David McCullough’s narration. And the line about nobody eating their kin is my favorite line! I always wanted to have a donner party. And serve finger foods.
Totally in love witht hat shawl. you may hand it over to me when you’re done 😉
It looks really great! And I love that grown up feeling! It will hit me sometimes and sometimes it’s a bit scary (not really the right word, byt I think you know what I mean), but overall, so great!
DFS is looking gorgeous! can’t wait to see it blocked. by the way, i’m not going to be at maryland after all, sadly, so i won’t be at the meetup. maybe next year.