Into the Light

I finally got around to blocking this shawl. I had forgotten that it was Icelandic wool until I was pinning it out and marveling at the change in texture of the yarn - right! Ístex! (Do Icelandic sheep fluff up in the rain?) It blocked out beautifully, and I am really pleased with it.

I was a little nervous about the blocking, since the spiral shaping convinced me that blocking wires were going to be no help at all. I had read someone else's advice not to be concerned if there was overlap. I didn't understand until I began to pin it out. I quickly realized that the lacy edge was what mattered - I didn't really need to pin out the inner edge at all. I also decided to pin out the petals, not the crochet chain edging, having seen lots of versions where pinned-out loops became sharp zig-zags.  Three-quarters of the way around I realized I was going to wind up on top of the beginning. Overlap. No problem.

Needles: US 4 (3.5mm)
Yarn: Ístex Einband: 6 g Black Heather, 3 g Dunkelgrau, 27.5 g Grey Heather, 52 g Hellgrau, 50 g White
Pattern: Carfield Ma's Begonia Swirl
Mods: Other than the color changes, none.

NKD saw it folded up and commented that it would be really cool to have a skirt like that. So I took a picture and filed the inspiration away for another day.