After blocking, this shawl became absolutely beautiful! The bride loved it and it surely will become an heirloom.

Five repeats of the Lace Body section. Used 8/0 crystal beads - the beads were just enough to add some bling, but not detract from the beauty of the lace pattern. You can hardly see the beads in my pictures, but when the sun caught the beads, the beads twinkled. I did not use a life line, but used stitch markers between each repeat - that’s a lot of markers!

Let me tell you about my new choice of “blocking wires”…lol I had the idea of connecting the cables of my Knitters Pride set - in this case I connected a 40” and a 32” cable with the little connector they give you. I attached my US 2.5 needles on one end to pick up the stitches along the top and put an end cap on the other end. I never tried this before and was curious how it would work. It worked like magic. The Knitters Pride cables have holes that my blocking pins fit in to secure the cable to the blocking board. Even before the shawl went on the board I noticed how the nice curve of the cable had eliminated any of the center/top/hump just by hanging damp on the cable. I don’t think I’ll be using my wires for anything curvy. Here’s the link to the skinny blocking pins: Skinny blocking pins

I really pondered whether to “knit as written” for the edge or add a YO after the first stitch and then drop the YO for a stretchier edge. Either would have worked. With a tighter edge, you’d block out the shawl to be more of a true crescent with a U edge. I opted for a slightly more straight edge and added the YO. When I knit this again I may try the tighter edge.

One of my favorite projects! My first BooKnits project and it won’t be the last.

The silk from Etsy shop Stickchick Stickchick at Etsy was absolutely a dream to work with and sold for a very reasonable price. The silk blocked beautifully. For this project, I recommend using silk or a silk blend because of the fantastic drape you get. The beads added a little weight to further assist the drape.

Here’s a description from the Stickchik etsy website: “Made of the very finest mulberry silk, this undyed 2 ply lace weight yarn is smooth, strong, and unbelievably lustrous! 100% silk completely undyed and natural; it’s a smooth ivory/soft white in color with a subtle unmistakable silky sheen. Absolutely gorgeous…. make exquisite shawls, wedding items, and other delicate lacy accessories. It also dyes like a dream and soaks up color easily.”