When I was younger we called them christening shawls. These days with the shifts in the religious concepts they seem to be called heirloom shawls. Well whatever they're called... I have finished the one for my grandson.
I posted this picture of it a week or so ago...
The centre stars were complete and so were the lace panels all the shawl needed was a border. I had already begun making the shawl when we learned that our first grandchild was going to be a little boy, so knowing that I didn't want to make anything too frilly or fancy so I decided that a plain border was probably the way to go. By the time I got to crocheting the rounds had gotten very long and the work was almost hypnotic in nature. I was also concerned that I was going to run out of yarn. Traditionally circular-ish shawls are between fifty and fifty four inches in diameter. In the picture above the shawl isn't even forty inches across. Still I kept going laying the work out, adjusting the maths and checking the tension as I went. Finally I felt I had something that would be big enough and I was on the last ball of my lovely Sublime Baby Cashmere, Merino, Silk 4 ply yarn, so I added the final rows and hoped it would all work.
Then I realised my blocking boards weren't gonna be big enough so I had to order a four by four pack of children's play mats off the internet to make sure I had enough!
After that himself and I spent hours measuring and pinning, adjusting and pinning and measuring again until finally I was satisfied.
And this was the result!
It isn't perfect by any means, but there is a lot of work and a load of love and I don't think I could have done much better.
I just hope the girls like it and use it.
Well I am almost packed. My boarding pass is printed and I have an electronic version on my phone. I have almost finished a nice little crochet shrug to take with me. So Madrid here I come! Love O. xx