Sarafina, Seraphim

Not that this post has anything with the movie, but that movie came to me while writing this post. Rarely have I received such pleasure from a knitting project. I do love most of my projects, but something that I cast on for so fervently (Estes eve) and was finished fairly quickly. Some of you may note that my finished Seraphim is not as large as others, mainly because I ran out of yarn. I had 800 yds. of sportweight (poss. dk) yarn and I used it up to the last drop. I had to stop in the middle of chart #3 with the edging chart still to go. I found this project so highly addictive, I could scarcely knit on anything else. It was also a most satisfying knit. Many of you that read my blog and know me IRL know that I like many a stockinette project. They are great for knitting at knit nites and for me, also for knitting at work or at home while watching tv. I've tried some new techniques, such as intarsia and knitting from a chart and doing more complicated cabling techniques this year, but stockinette has always been my first love. The new love that is added to this group is now lace!

Here is my lovely Seraphim blocking on my highly fashionable (insulation board cut in half) blocking board.


Below is a close-up of the points for the scalloped edging and the lace pattern:


And then, the finished object:


I really wanted to get a pic up of it and since I've been getting home late most evenings and my photographer even more so, I "borrowed" the use of my neighbor's fence and took a pic of Seraphim from point to point.

Project specs: Seraphim Shawl by Miriam Felton
Yarn: Plain & Fancy Sheep & Wool in a variegated color, forget the name and can't find the ball band anymore, sportweight, 400 yds ea (2 hanks)
Needle size: US 7 (4.5 mm) Addi Turbos 40"

Modifications: None! I followed the pattern to a "T" and loved it. Margene had the right idea buying 3 skeins of this yarn for Seraphim. Although you could have gotten away with 2 skeins, just need to cut back on a few rows of the increases to take out a repeat. Although I was a bit bummed that I didn't get to finish the entire chart, I can always make another one at a later date, with more yarn. The shawl is simply gorgeous, at least, imo and I adore it. I've been using it almost everyday at work since I finished it early last week. And with the rainy weather we had last weekend, it was the perfect wet weather accessory as I draped it over my shoulders when I ran out in the drizzling rain and covered my head when it was raining harder. All in all, I learned a lot about lace knitting in my first charted lace project and enjoyed the heck out of knitting it. Brava Mim! Great pattern.