Fresh Off the Needles...

Hooray! Today I finished the Pi Shawl! Here it is, in all its unblocked glory: 56" across, which will likely grow to 66" or more after blocking. And here's a detail of the Gull Wing lace pattern just before the final garter stitch border.
This shawl was "unvented" by Elizabeth Zimmerman, and I made it pretty much as she suggests in the Knitter's Almanac: follow the pattern till you are out to 576 stitches (!!), then do as many rows as you can stand (I did 37 rows), then add a few repeats of the Gull Stitch pattern (I did 3 repeats), then a final cute sideways garterstitch border of 8 stitches, where you knit the final stitch of the border together with a stitch of the shawl, neatly avoiding ANY seaming.

Details: 5.0 mm needles, starting with dpns, then to 16" circular, then 24" and ending with 40". I used about 3.5 "plates" of Unspun Icelandic wool in Blacksheep. This thing is warm, warm, warm, and so light you can't believe it...like wearing a cloud.

And last Friday, the guys formed up the 110,000 litre water storage tank, and poured the concrete for it, too:
And Saturday they came back and poured the lid:
So, in spite of a humongous 45 minute thunderstorm last evening that dumped 2.5 inches of rain and 1" hailstones everywhere, all is well in Exeter. Actually, the new garage flooded bigtime in this storm, leaving water and half an inch of mud throughout, including the fancy new kitty quarters. This was caused, we think, by the above-seen concrete truck driving over the junction of the storm water pipes, crushing them and causing the drainage system to back up. After hours of cleanup, and pipe repair, we hope THAT problem will not present itself again!

The kitties spent a peaceful night on warm, dry bedding, but using the "facilities" required some damp tiptoeing until today's sun and breezes dried things out.

Fireplace goes in next week, and probably kitchen cabinets, too. And they built the window seat in my new quilting room! I'll post a pic once the painter has done his finest...

Comments

Bells said…
oh it's lovely! I'm feeling a deep pi shawl yearning right now and this just makes it worse. It's lovely.
Libby said…
I think maybe this is an example of why I don't (can't *s*) knit . . . I would lose concentration and become stuck in counting, losing track and starting over and over and over again. I sure admire the work that all of you knitters do.
Carol said…
Oh my. That shawl is just amazing.
A window seat in your studio. Now, I am jealous.
Your shawl is lovely. I love EZ's books, but I've only knitted one sweater from her instructions.
I am so glad to see the progress around your place. Please keep posting.
Love that shawl, the tank looks like a pool! Tracey
Dorothy said…
Tag! You're it! (click on my blog for all the sordid details)

Popular posts from this blog

In Memoriam

Lady of the Lake

First Post From Australia!