Path of Flowers Stole

Blocked Stole
Originally uploaded by UnFrogged

I was crunched for time with this one, but I got it done in time to give to the recipient. I blocked it the morning of, but that's okay, it was still all dry and ready to go by the time I wrapped it. This is the Path of Flowers Stole by Chrissy Gardiner of Gardiner Yarn Works. It is a really lovely lacey stole. Not something I'd wear for myself, but my grandmother loves it. It's Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud in Peppermint, so a very pink warm stole. It has pattern bits on both right side and wrong side rows, so takes a bit to get used to. I had to refer to the chart for almost all the repeats of the center pattern. I used US4s, though the pattern calls for US6s. The Alpaca Cloud is a thinner yarn, and so 6s were just too large for it. As it is, it is only slightly smaller than the specs call for, something like 32 x 63 " as opposed to 35 x 65.5". Very quick knit by necessity, and it only took just under two skeins instead of the called-for four. Which means I have enough for another if I want, or just some other random shawl eventually. I love how light and airy this thing is, and my grandmother loves how warm it is. I was using it as a blanket when I got close to the end as I was knitting it - it was heavenly to sit and watch a movie with the lovely alpaca keeping my legs warm and growing by the minute.

Dropped Stitch
Originally uploaded by UnFrogged

The only problem I had with it was after blocking. Can you see the hole in the red circle? That's where a dropped stitch decided to hide itself until after blocking. I grabbed my itty bitty crochet hook and brought the stitches back up, then ran a 2" piece of yarn through the stitch the way it should have been to tack it down in place. I then wove the ends through the stitches on either side of the errant one to keep it all in place. I was very proud of that; you couldn't even tell where the stitch was dropped in the first place when I was done. Didn't think to photograph the loveliness though, just realized later that I did get a shot of the dropped stitch without even realizing it.

I gifted this with a washing guarantee. I told my grandmother that if she ever feels that it needs washing to not do it herself but give me a call. I can just see this being improperly blocked or tossed in the wash machine and ruined. Improperly blocked would not ruin it, but this thing definitely requires a good bit of tugging to let the design really shine through. Take a look at the thumbnails for even more pictures of this lovely pink stole.