5/8/2014 - Hunh, the Dream in Color Jilly really looks fuzzy in this picture… I don’t think I noticed it being this fuzzy in person!

5/20/2014 - Just finished Lace Section (Chart B) and, wow, it’s smaller than I expected at this point. I know folks say they block some of these lace shawls quite thuggishly - I’m just not sure I’ll get a ton more width and height. The good news is that there’s still 53g of yarn left! Looks like I’m doing another pass of section B!

5/21/2014 - Not a surprise anymore - had to show it to Cindy to get her input on additional height and whether or not to bead from here on out. She was ecstatic, and wants the BCS-6972 “Heavy Metal” beads.

5/29/2014 - Started the last row of beading, and then it’s the picot bind-off, only I’m reallllllly not certain I’ll have enough yarn. Rows 3 and 5 of the lace border must be taking something like an hour and a half apiece, and are really sucking up the beads! Had to stop row 5 before finishing just because it was getting so late - thankfully it’s an easy to knit row (just fiddly with adding beads to each stitch from the KYOK), so should be easy enough to pick up tomorrow. I’m thinking, if I don’t have enough Jilly Brilliant I’ll be doing the final/picot row in Jilly Bluefish OR Everlasting Sock Brilliant - haven’t decided yet.

Oh yeah - ordered a set of Premium Blocking Wires from http://www.inspinknity.com/. It was going to be a 45 min drive out to anywhere that sold blocking wires anyhow, and these seemed to get good reviews online and are supposed to hold their shape after being used to block stuff that involves scalloping. Never having used blocking wires before, I don’t know if this can be hard on the wires, but at least I will now have some that should be really good quality, right?

5/6/2014 - Annnnnnd done! Finished two nights ago, and then the blocking wires and mats arrived the very next day - great timing! And thanks to celebrity knitter bittern for the tips about removing the peak in the middle (it’s shown in the photos on the mats, but then I worked it out - all gone!).

So I think I totally biffed the picot edging - am I allowed to use the excuse that it was my first time? Probably not - you’re supposed to follow the pattern and it should just work out. Ah well. Again, bittern told me not to worry about wiring/pinning the picots, and after some fiddling around I realized what was working best was to put the pin just behind/“above” the middle beads in each group of three - that worked out well!

The pics on the blocking mats show how much it grew…
Pre blocking it was 50” across from the outer edges of the curls (so not the tips), and 15” from base of neck to bottom picot.
After blocking it was 60” wide (again, outer edges of the curled parts) and 23” from base of neck to bottom picot.
After those measurements I got the tip to get rid of the “hunchback point”, so I’m sure the measurements changed at least a little bit, but it’s gotta be close.

And I definitely got “thuggish” with this, as so many Ravelers recommend for lace work. Wow - that opens it up A LOT!! Drastic improvements. I have to admit, part of me was thinking “oh man, something’s gonna break!” LOL

While it’s got some minor goofs here and there, I hope a non-knitter won’t notice the super fine details… Can’t wait to give it Cindy next week!

8/5/2014 - Pics now include two of Cindy wearing it, and also sporting the shirt she loooves that she bought from dyedianadye - go check her out!