In Full Bloom

On the last day of fall, the day before winter (finally) descended upon us, Smith and I went to the farm for for a photo shoot. The sky was as blue as blue can be and the temperature belied the November date. Smith looked around the fields emptied of crops where he spotted an old rusted truck and he thought would be perfect as a backdrop to photograph my elegant shawl.

We had some fun and he captured some great shots of the shawl in action, but I think he was more enamored of the truck.

I had some fun with SketchGuru while he took more pictues of the truck. 

When I saw Cactus Flower I fell head over heels for its beauty, but admit to being slightly intimidated by the construction. The side knit border was new to me and it looked oh-so-complicated, but I decided to step forward despite my angst. As it turned out, there wasn't anything about the pattern I couldn't do and, while I knew it would take me a long while to knit, I was surprised it only took 3 months.

As I neared the end of the border, the fear  of not having enough yarn struck. My friends were also fairly sure I'd run out, but I knit and weighed, and right after sending Kim a panicked email, I realized I would make it to the end. As it ended up, to my relief, I had a tiny little ball of yarn left.

Blocking this shawl took a lot of pins, more blocking wires than I'd anticipated, and about an hour of time. But, seeing the end result of a well stretched lace is worth the time and trouble of proper blocking. 

Cactus Flower by Romi
Kim's elegant Woolen Rabbit Lucent
Inspiration and encouragement from my virtual grrlfriends

When I finish a long-time project I feel a little sadness, but that is abated by the joy of wearing something so beautiful every day and I have done so even since it came off the needles.

My Ravelry Here

Comments

[Mary]

stunning, Margene, simple stunning! I think you and the shawl show up beautifully next to that old truck... glad Smith focused a little attention on you!

[Bonny]

Thanks for sharing your gorgeous shawl! My husband also has quite a thing for old trucks but you and Cactus Flower definitely steal the show.

[Kym]

Oh, Margene! STUNNING! Just gorgeous! (Fun truck, too. But Bonny is right -- the Cactus Flower absolutely steals the show.)

[Carole]

It's gorgeous and the photo shoot is terrific. I agree that it was fun to knit and I liked that the construction was different than a typical triangular shawl.

[Chris]

Stunning! :D

[Kim]

Wow, just wow! I am so happy that you stayed with these colors, they are stunning together and your knitting is absolutely beautiful as are you in it!

Good job Smith with the pictures!!

[sprite]

Lovely!

[claudia]

I've watched this shawl grow from an idea, to yarn (a few times) and then to this. Its beautiful and so are you!

[Vicki]

It's gorgeous!! It's been so fun to knit along with the grrlfriends again!

[Debbie]

Gorgeous!

[Cheryl S.]

I am surprised that this was your first sideways border! But you handled it with no problem, and the result is gorgeous.

[Patty]

What a lovely piece Margene! I know you will wear it well!

[DebbieB]

Wow!!!

[Manise]

Echoing Claudia. Stunningly beautiful! Kudos to you.

[Jo]

Worth the time!

[Marilyn]

Simply beautiful.

[Laurie]

I love the photoshoot with the truck. It goes perfectly.

[beachthread]

Great post on a really nice shawl.

[Suzanne]

It's gorgeous! I love the colors.

[karen]

Beautiful! love the shape and colors of the shawl and as always the photo shoot and model are perfection :)

[Kathy]

Gawd, it's gorgeous! And I really love your creative photoshoot. Bravo!!!

[Romi]

This turned out SO gorgeous!!! I love your colors and photos too. :)

[Sarah]

It's just so very lovely, and seems like it fits you perfectly! The yarn just had to last so you could have such a wonderful new shawl. xoxo