118335 stitches

i’ve been working on something top-secret for the past three months, but at last, i can share it.

one of my very best friends got married, and i knitted her a shawl. she knew i was making it, but didn’t know which pattern – or just quite what a labour of love it would be.

when i asked her for suggestions as to the style & pattern, she gave me a stack of books, with the book “shetland lace” by gladys amedro in the middle. on the pattern page for this shawl was a note that went something like this: “this is my absolute favourite shawl of all time, and i’ve always wanted it. but don’t knit it, because it’s completely insane”. when i saw the pattern, i knew exactly what she meant. it wasn’t charted, and not only that, it was written in non-standard knitting abbreviations, so it would require a lot of patience to decipher. but how could i not make her the shawl she’s always wanted, even if it meant working from pattern notes like this?

and it was definitely worth it – all 118,335 stitches.

project specs: pattern: brora black shawl by gladys amedro
needles: 3.5mm knitpro circular
yarn: jamieson & smith 1ply shetland supreme, 85 grams & 1450 yards
started: 13th march 2012
completed: 12th june 2012