Last Minute Knitting

I am on a race against time to get ready for an upcoming vacation.  I took on a last minute project for a lovely cousin-in-law that we will be visiting - it will be her birthday.  I needed to make something light, as she lives in a warm climate.  I was leaning towards lace in a natural fibre.  I searched online through all sorts of patterns.  I saw a few that I liked but none were perfect.  The amount of patterns was overwhelming so I gave up and headed to Three Bags Full to find some lace yarn in hopes that I would be inspired there.  I was lucky to love the first skein I picked up and just below the display was a sample shawl knit out of the same yarn.  It was exactly what I had pictured in my mind.  Even more lucky - the pattern was free on Ravelry!  Sold!

This Malabrigo yarn is beyond soft.  Silk and baby alpaca make a divine combination.  The colour is amazing, too.  I was looking for a light grey, but this yarn has subtle undertones of pink, purple, blue and green - kind of like the inside of an oyster shell.  The silk content gives it a bit of a gloss, also like the inside of an oyster shell.

The knitting was easy - it is a very simple pattern.  The lightweight, soft yarn was gentle on the hands. I had to make sure to do the lace parts at night or when the kids were away so that I could count out the lace.  I did make a couple mistakes, but I don't think that the average eye will catch them.  I love knitting lace because it is so magical.  You follow the instructions and you end up with the crumpled mess below.

Then you stretch it out with a million little pins and wires...

And you are left with a most beautiful spiderweb.

I loved it so much that I bought a second skein of the exact same yarn to make the exact same shawl for myself.  It is so light and soft and luxurious - everyone needs one.

I had also signed up to do a kids clothes sewing challenge this week, but this shawl took over my days.  I needed to get it done on time!  I completed two days of the sewing challenge (Monday and Tuesday) and then fell off the wagon.  Tomorrow is the last day of the challenge and I hope to finish at least one of the projects I started.  I'll let you know...

Edited to add:  No sewing happened.  Oh well, there are only so many hours in a day and small children are calling...