Wednesday, July 6, 2011

A Story About a Shawl continued...

As you know from my post in April - A Story About a Shawl, and more recently in June, I was working on a shawl for my sister and an afghan for my newphew.  Well I'm happy to report that I finished them both and sent them off right before I left on vacation with blessings of healing from my girlfriend's prayer circle.

While on vacation, I called to verify that my sister received the package and I was given wonderful news, my nephew completed his treatment and is cancer free!  He will have to be monitored and go in for testing every month for the next year, but the doctors are optimistic. Children are a blessing and so resilient, I'm happy he's made it through this obstacle and pray that he never has to go through it again.  And my sister loved her shawl and the afghan and thanked me for sending them to her. I was just happy I was able to do something, even this small thing to bring a little hope and healing to my sister and her family.

Finished Sidewalk Shawl by Kimberly K. McAlindin
Finished Popcorn Granny Squares Afghan
After the success of my first shawl, I decided I wanted to try my hand at a knitted shawl and reading charts.  So I searched and searched, hoping to find a shawl that had a simple chart to follow.  Well, I can tell you, there really aren't any, at least none that I found.  The charts all looked so intimidating, but I wasn't giving up.

After much searching, I finally found one on Ravelry, that I thought would be easy to manage, called the Calais Shawl by Judy Marples.  Well here is the results:

Beginning stages of shawl
Close-up of beginning of shawl
Here it is after blocking. I used Cascade Ultra Pima Cotton
in a beautiful deep wine color
Looks slightly pinkish against my blue couch, but it is the same shawl!
A closer look!
Once I read completely through Judy's instructions and started, I completely immersed myself into the rhythm of the pattern and before long I had myself a stunning shawl!  It was much easier than I thought and I am excited about trying my hand at another shawl, now that I understand the charts better.

Hope everyone had a safe and wonderful 4th of July.  I also hope everyone is enjoying their summer so far! I know I am!

4 comments:

  1. That is wonderful news about your nephew; I'm so happy to hear things are turning out.

    Your shawl is beautiful!

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  2. Thank you Pam. I'm really happy about the news as well.

    And yes, I'm actually quite impressed with my ability to read the charts that went with this shawl. I'm always looking for a challenge when it comes to knitting, maybe my next challenge is actually designing my own!

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  3. Your knitting is amazing! I love those shawls. I must check out Calais on Ravelry too now!

    It must be such a relief to you and your family to know your nephew is well. Long may that last!

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  4. Thanks for the post Kiwiyarns. And yes it is a relief, but he isn't out of the woods yet. He will have to be monitored for the next year and then annually after that. But my prayers were answered and he doing well and being a normal four year old.

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