April 17, 2006
Debut of my Charlotte!
The day is finally here...I blocked my Charlotte this weekend! Of course I forgot to take a picture of her all pinned out on my bedroom floor, but you've all seen stuff pinned out before, right?! I'm totally new to blocking lace and I was a little nervous at first, but I quickly got over that. Here are the steps that I took:
1. Dunked the shawl in cold water. I got it completely soaked, and then gently got most of the water out by rolling it in a dry towl.
2. Took it upstairs and stretched the crap out of it and pinned down all the sides directly into the carpet.
3. Aimed a handy dandy fan right onto the shawl (to speed the drying process because I wanted to wear it to church on Easter Sunday...the next day!) and left it for the rest of the afternoon and evening to dry.
4. I got home from babysitting Alice and presto! it was dry! I wove in some of the ends then and did the rest on the way to church the next morning! Ha! I am such a procrastinator!
Can I just say that I am in love with this shawl. Seeing it all blocked and beautiful makes me want to immediately cast on for another one in a completely different colorway. I brought it to work with me today and it's resting on the back of my chair because I couldn't stand to leave it at home...I wanted to be able to see it today. I'm such a dork, I know...but I just love it when a knitting project turns out just the way that you wanted it to and just the way that you envisioned it! Now for more pictures!
Yarn: Koigu KPPPM in 5 different colors. Starting at the top smallest section, these are the color numbers: P118, P627, P611X, P808, P211L
Needles: Addi Turbos- size US 6
Knit: November 2005-March 2006 Don't let these dates throw you off, this is not a difficult knit! I just took my sweet time getting her done...plus I always have a ton of projects going on at the same time!
This isn't the best picture, but I tried to show the gradation of color in my Charlotte. This project was all about color for me...and the Koigu was a dream to work with!
(**my Dad took pictures of me wearing it on Sunday but he hasn't given them to me yet, so check back for live action shots!**)
Posted by Stacey at April 17, 2006 07:55 AMWow! The colors are amazing!
Posted by: Christina at April 17, 2006 10:19 AMIt's beautiful! Well done!
Posted by: jae at April 17, 2006 10:20 AMWhat a beauty!
Posted by: isel at April 17, 2006 10:21 AMWhat a beautiful Charlotte! I haven't done one yet, but the more I see of them, the more I want one. I'm going to Maryland Sheep & Wool in three weeks ... perhaps I'll get some Koigu there and begin a Charlotte of my very own.
PS - I also welcomed Nachaele to the knit blog world.
Posted by: Beth at April 17, 2006 10:22 AMAbsolutely gorgeous. What a nice job you did both with the colors and the knitting. I did one in greens and gave it to a dear friend. Maybe I need my own???
Posted by: Judy at April 17, 2006 10:23 AMI love that shawl!! :D The colors and design and just so inspiring. I was playing around with a lacy pattern for the first time last night. I have to wonder if I’m doing it right or if the beauty will unfold in the blocking.
Oh and you aren't a dork. I do that after I've finished something too. I just have to look at it in shock that I made something. Granted I’m still new so it’s all a shock. *L*
Posted by: KnittyOtter at April 17, 2006 10:27 AMGORGEOUS!! The more of these I see, the more I *need* to make one of my very own. How many skeins of Koigu did you need?
Beautiful! Wear it well!
Posted by: Cara at April 17, 2006 10:36 AMIt is so amazing! I love the last shot showing the flow of color up the middle. So what colors are you considering next?
Posted by: Vicki at April 17, 2006 10:36 AMI love Charlotte and have yarn for a second one. Your colors are beautiful...wear her well!
Posted by: margene at April 17, 2006 10:39 AMStacey - What an awesome accomplishment! It's been fun for me to see the progress, and now the finished shawl is truly fabulous. It was a treat to sit next to you and Charlotte in church yesterday! Maybe now I'll be motivated to work on mine!
Posted by: Mom at April 17, 2006 10:41 AMI love it and it looked great on at church. What a beautiful project for a beautiful girl!
Posted by: Whit at April 17, 2006 10:43 AMThe colors are simply gorgeous - you have a great eye!
Posted by: Ang at April 17, 2006 10:45 AMYou finished! I'm so proud! It looks gorgeous. Can't wait to see it in person.
Posted by: Wanda at April 17, 2006 10:51 AMThis is amazing and so inspiring! I love the 5 different colorway aspect. Nice job!
Posted by: wenders at April 17, 2006 10:58 AMMy compliments!
Your shawl looks wonderful and I guess it was fun showing it off and being warmed by it in church.
Beautiful work!
Love and hugs
Melly
all that time and effort was SO worth it Stace! she is SO you. What other colorway would you want? Now I wanna finish my Ene.
Posted by: cyn at April 17, 2006 11:43 AMWow...that is incredible. Thank you for sharing and I can't wait to see the rest of the photos!
Posted by: Suzanne at April 17, 2006 11:44 AMIn a word: STUNNING!
Posted by: Joanne at April 17, 2006 12:31 PMIt's done! I bet it was perfect for Easter. Easter Sunday really is the perfect occasion for shawls, because you want to wear a nice spring dress, but it's always still a little chilly.
It's gorgeous!
Posted by: Cheryl at April 17, 2006 01:00 PMMy mouth is hanging open in amazment. I def. need to start mine. Just stunning. Great colors, beautiful. I love it!
Posted by: Becky at April 17, 2006 01:01 PMOh, that yellow at the top just broke my heart. Just gorgeous. Thanks for sharing!
Posted by: Fanny at April 17, 2006 01:14 PMlove the charlotte!! - beautiful colors - I would love to know where to get the pattern = would you let me know if you have a minute, I have some koigu that is just waiting!
Posted by: Ruthanne (in Seattle) at April 17, 2006 02:39 PMwhoo hoo..she is so pretty. You know I am not a shawl kind of gal...but you may have changed my mind..nice work girlie
Posted by: Cassidy at April 17, 2006 02:50 PMCompletely fabulous. :D What a treat to wear it Easter morning. Congrats on doing such a wonderful job. :) May there be many more beautiful lace shawls in your future.
Posted by: Liz at April 17, 2006 03:20 PMBravo!! Charlotte is gorgeous!! You should be very proud, and I don't blame you for wanting to take it everywhere with you. Share the Beauty!!
Posted by: Allegra at April 17, 2006 03:25 PMFabulous! Wonderful! Gorgeous! It's absolutely stunning. You did a terrific job. Is the Charlotte's shawl pattern available for purchase out on the internet or did you get it at your LYS? Can't wait to see the "action modeling" shots.
Posted by: Jessica at April 17, 2006 03:52 PMIt turned out beautifully! I didn't realize you were so close to finishing. Excellent work!
Posted by: Wendi at April 17, 2006 04:19 PMI'm starting a shawl tomorrow and I need to have it completed by June 2nd. My daughter is getting married on June 3rd. Do you think I can doit? I'll show my progress on the blog....wish me luck.
Posted by: Lynette at April 17, 2006 06:06 PMYour Charlotte is beautiful!!
Posted by: Rachel Ann at April 17, 2006 06:14 PMIt turned out great! The colors are so perfect--great job :)
Posted by: Kim at April 17, 2006 06:23 PMLooks stunning! The shawl is truly impressive. I hope one day to achieve lace patterns such as this one. Good job!
Posted by: Monica at April 17, 2006 06:31 PMhow beautiful! I really don't know that i'd wear a shawl that often but I'm getting the urge to knit one seeing all this beautiful work! Great work!
Posted by: Kelly at April 17, 2006 06:35 PMIt's SO, SO BEAUTIFUL. Congrats!!!
Posted by: Chris at April 17, 2006 07:15 PMIts gorgeous! Its so well put together, it didn't look like you actually used 5 different colourways on it.
Posted by: kessa at April 17, 2006 11:38 PMBeautiful work!
Posted by: wool winder at April 18, 2006 07:17 AMgood work! How long did it take to make?
Posted by: Ava at April 18, 2006 09:40 AMwow! it's absolutely beautiful, the colors are just perfect!
Posted by: lucy at April 18, 2006 10:33 AMWoah. Ok, I didn't know what the big deal was about Charlotte until today. Wow. You did an amazing job. I need one.
Posted by: Faith at April 18, 2006 06:02 PMWow, that turned out great! Congratulations!
Posted by: Jess at April 18, 2006 10:36 PMI love your Charlotte! I would love to knit a second one too, but I took the pages apart when I knit the last one, and lost the chart page. So I have to buy another one.
I love the colors you chose! Gorgeous!
Posted by: Amy Lu at April 19, 2006 09:21 AMYour Charlotte is beautiful and I bet it was the best accessory worn to church on Sunday!
Posted by: Kristi aka Fiber Fool at April 19, 2006 11:13 AMLovely!
Posted by: Stacie at April 19, 2006 04:17 PMwell, I can't say it any better than the last 43 times...but it is lovely, beautiful, awesome, incredible, gorgeous, amazing.
Posted by: Lynne at April 21, 2006 02:53 PM