It is finished. The Floral Circular Shawl by Kristin Omdahl from the Superior Crochet by Tahki Stacy Charles is now blocking. It is a tribute to a 30 minute soak in Comfort and a darn good yanking that it resembles a shawl and not a doily. I know that my blocking technique leaves a lot to be desired but I just cannot manage to crawl on the floor or around the bed to block it properly so I have to manage as best I can until my knee heals.
If anyone feels like embarking on this shawl first take a Valium and lie in a darkened room as the pattern instructions are far from easy to understand. When I got to the border I found it to be utter gibberish to me. I just could not understand the way she had written the pattern at all and so made up my own edging hence my border is far frillier and thicker than the pattern. The added weight did help me to stretch out the shawl. My wool was 4ply and thicker than the one specified on the pattern and although I normally crochet loosely I had to change the hook size up from a 4mm to a 6mm and even now I still think the shawl has come out small. I am glad that I didn't buy the expensive wool as I had to restart it twice and as the yarn gets cut and joined after every row I could not salvage any of that wool which would have broke my heart if I had paid a lot for it.
Although I think that the shawl is pretty now it is finished it is definitely going to be a one off. Never to be repeated no matter how hard anyone begs me. I would throw away the pattern except that it is a booklet that also has 4 of Doris Chan designs in it. One of which, a capelet, crocheted up like a dream with not one problem with the pattern.
