The Woodland Elf Shawl

Okay, so a couple of months ago a couple of ladies were joking around and on Ravelry they decided to start a ravelry group named "One Shawl to Rule Them All". Many of you will catch the Lord of the Rings reference.

Then when people started joining said group, the owner decided maybe she should come up with a reason for it other than the fact that it sounds cool. I heard about the group on my Chicks with Sticks list and signed because well, it's LOTR, folks...couldn't resist. So votes were held and decisions were made and one thing led to another and 8 shawls were chosen. A crochet shawl and a knit shawl for each of four categories: men, elves, dwarves, and hobbits. The woodland shawl was chosen for the elf knit shawl and I fell in love. So this is my Woodland elf Shawl.

I used Knit Picks Gloss fingering weight (70% wool/30% silk) in the colorway Woodland Sage (which I stash-dived for, thannkyouverymuch). I had three hanks. I used just over two, and each hank is 440 yds. I would have used all three, but I am saving the last hank for a scarf.

I like the yarn. It is very soft and yet sturdy. The color is very even and showed off the leaf motif really well. Since this is fingering weight and not lace weight, the thickness of it raises the leaves in relief. Even the back is pretty, which is why I think this will make a great scarf pattern.

I blocked it 17" wide and 44" long. I expected it to be longer. I probably could have blocked it longer...but I like the leaves fatter and rounder rather than skinny and the shawl just sort of naturally blocks wide. I also didn't want to lose width for length, as 17 inches is my minimum desired width for a wrap.
I am happy with my blocking except for the ends. The ends seem rather loopy and unfinished to me. Perhaps I should do a simple crochet edging on them, but I don't want to detract from the leaves. When I first blocked the ends, the cast-off end seemed flat...it lost the leaf feel. Part of that is the way the pattern is written. I would perhaps end it a bit differently if I were to do this again. However, once I blocked it so that the leaves were pinned coming back together, as shown in the photo below, it looked better. Still not sure about the edging, though. I don't know if it is inexperienced blocking on my part or just the way the pattern is. It just sort of ends with no definition. Since I have more yarn, I can add ends, but I don't know what to do to them. All advice on this matter is welcome.
I am VERY happy with this little wrap. So happy that I wish I had more summer stuff to match it. I would like to wear it to the theater August 10th, but most of my summery "theater clothes" have different colors. I have one skirt and top that I can maybe swing this shawl with. I am actually very inspired (now that I know my lace knitting skills are definitely up to snuff) to do a big shawl in the lime green merino lace weight I got from Lone Star Arts at Fiberfest. I have the perfect outfit for a shawl of that color. I don't think I can get it knit and blocked in 11 days, though.

The shawl pin is a bit of a chance happening. My MIL bequeathed a substantial amount of jewelry to my SIL. My MIL had some really interesting items she bought all over the world. Mindy brought several of the pins a couple of years ago to see if I wanted them...at the time, I wasn't sure what I would do with them and only took a few. But some of them will make pretty shawl pins. I probably need at least one shawl pin with less pointy bits, because these are real pins and I don't know that I would use them for lace-weight, but this one is working beautifully for this shawl.

And here I am, modeling my new wrap in the bathroom mirror, where I took a photo with Big Daddy, which I dug out of semi-retirement so that I could get good detail shots. (Big Daddy is a Canon Digital RebelXT that earns its price mostly on vacations and for action shots.) This is a petite shawl, but one I think I will get good use out of. If I can just maybe do something about those ends....

I guess I need to go take it off. It isn't cut out for cooking dinner or making the bed, although I may go fold laundry in it. Maybe it will take some of the monotony out of a basket full of C's socks and underwear.