I purchased this yarn about 10 years ago, had it custom dyed. Back then, it cost me a fortune. Today, pfft … all yarns cost a fortune! lol

I wanted a knitted shawl that looked sort of peacockish. The shawl was gorgeous. I hired a knitter (on ravelry) to knit this shawl for me. I purchased the yarn and sent it to her. 6 months later, she still hadn’t started the shawl. Then I spent another 6 months trying to get her to return the yarn to me. If she wasn’t going to make the shawl, then I wanted my yarn back.

I was upset at the time about all of that. But it was a long time ago. Time for me to move on. So, I am trying this yarn out in this pattern. I still love the colors in this yarn. The yarn is showy. This pattern is showy. I am hoping that they are a good match!

The pattern is a little difficult to follow. But if you puzzle it out or just make wild guesses, it seems to work out just fine.

Wow! These puff stitches are super hard. It seems like I am doing each one at least 3 times. I don’t know if I can handle this at all. I have started putting a ch stitch between the 2 post stitches when one of them will have a puff stitch in the next row. This is helping a lot. The puff stitches have gone from impossible to merely really hard.

I am only on Row 8. I don’t know yet if the stitch pattern will show up well with this blue tonal yarn. There are only 2 tones of blue. I am going to have to go farther to see if this yarn will work with this pattern.

Hindsight - The tonal blues look great in this stitch pattern. The colors don’t overwhelm the stitches.

ETA - Row 23 and I have decided to continue. The stitch pattern is hard to see at this point but when I spread my project with my fingers (emulating blocking) then it looks great. Finally, found a showy pattern for a beautiful yarn.

I just wish I didn’t have to do all of these puff stitches. 5 yarn overs for a puff stitch is a lot. But you have to do that many because this is a lace weight yarn. I am wondering if a popcorn would be easier and work better?

a day passes …. started over ……

My hand no longer aches after each extremely difficult back/front post puff stitch. The popcorns are a success! Thank goodness. Bobbles look like crap. My modifications have made this a much easier pattern to make.

Summary of modifications - a ch stitch between post stitches which will have a puff/popcorn in the next row, substitute 5dc-popcorns for puff stitches. I am using about post stitch popcorns. On rows where the puff stitches are put into a chain space, I make a puff stitch. When the rows are part of the “flower buds” pattern then I make the 5dc-popcorns.

The pattern looks exactly the same. It’s just soooo much easier to make. And my hands don’t hurt trying to make the shawl.

Row 23 - I am using the post puff stitches on this row because they are easy to make on this row. On the previous rows, the popcorns look like flower buds. On this row, the puff stitches do look better. But the big thing is that you aren’t trying to squish them onto a post stitch.

Note - This is a pattern you need to pay a lot of attention to. Not to fear about making a mistake. It will show up right away in the next row because your stitches won’t line up right.

Row 26 - I did the back post puff stitches because there were not that many in this row and I could hold the post stitch horizontal to work the puff stitches. There was room to make them.

Row 28 - I did the post puff stitches in this row.

Repeats
I have done 2 complete row repeats of Rows 11-38. On the 3rd repeat, I stopped on Row 25.

The last row number is chosen by which ending you choose. Unfortunately, it’s really hard to visualize what each ending looks like because there are no pictures. Most of the projects for this pattern have no pattern notes. The charts in the pattern are upside down (which makes them easy to work but hard to visualize).

My choice for the end border will depend on how much yarn I have when I get there.

Overview
Even though there are a few difficulties reading the chart, the designer has obviously put in a lot of time and effort for this design and creating the charts. I have been able to puzzle out everything by paying a lot of attention to each stitch in the chart, reading her notes below each chart and figuring out where she used the wrong English word.

It will help you a lot as soon as you realize that every time she uses the word “top” she means in the “center”. This is the left side of each diagram which she has drawn a line to represent the center back of the shawl. The line makes it a bit hard to see the stitches underneath but you can figure it out by her words and looking at close-ups of shawls on her pattern page.

The pattern is definitely written for an experienced crocheter but well worth the effort.

9/28/2023

Taking a break from this shawl. I keep making mistakes and having to frog rows and rows and rows. I have probably frogged the whole thing at least twice with as many times as I have frogged back.

This isn’t a problem with the design, it’s me not paying attention.

11/15/2023
I am back working the pattern and not having any problems with massive mistakes. It’s moving right along now. I guess I just needed a break.

Border
I used Ending 3. Why? Because I was at Row 25 and did not have enough yarn to continue to Row 32 (the next ending). Ending 3 leaves a straight line as the border.

I don’t believe there are any other projects with Ending 3. The scalloped endings look wonderful. I wanted one of them. But, I have to say that my shawl looks lovely with Ending 3. I am terribly pleased with the yarn and the pattern and how it all turned out.

Dimensions
pre-block
wingspan - 70 in
center back - 27 in

post-block
wingspan
center back

I do not have room to set up my blocking mats, so this is just laid on my bed to dry and pushed out with my fingers. Some day, I will have a place of my own again and be able to set up my blocking mats. I will probably be blocking for months!