Saturday, December 23, 2006

Urchin, Part 2

Ta Da!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Click to see the detail.)



The dyeing turned out just as I had hoped (though these pictures were taken at 8:00pm and look a little muddy). The pattern turned out just as I had pictured when I first sat down to begin charting. The size is right on target for what I estimated when I decided how many rows to chart. It looks like a sea urchin, and the edging works with the body.

I can't believe I made this.



I love how the Print o' the Wave pattern in the edging looks like seaweed.



Resident three-year-old for scale:



The specs:
  • 298 g /~10.5 oz (~3750 meters/~4125 yards) Ornaghi Filati Merino Oro yarn, 40+ wraps per inch
  • 1 24" US 2 Addi Turbo circular for the body, a US 2 double point for the edging
  • 84" diameter while blocking, I expect it to relax a bit when the pins are removed
  • original pattern
Random trivia about this project:
  • There are 314,004 stitches in this shawl.
  • It took approximately 200 hours to knit, probably another 20 or so to chart.
  • There are 2.34 miles of yarn in this shawl.
  • The edging alone consumed a full skein of yarn plus a bit.
I may have to post more pictures of this after it's released from the pins, so be warned. You have my permission to ignore that post if you're sick of hearing about the shawl! I'm just so very proud of myself!



Happy happy joy joy, HAPPY happy JOY, happy happy joy joy, happy happy JOY!

14 comments:

Charleen said...

Sue, Urchin is absolutely gorgeous! I can understand how proud you are - feel free to post pictures for weeks to come! If charting and knitting weren't enough, having the courage to put that freshly finished shawl into a dye pot shows nerves of steel :-) That's a great tip about the waste yarn tab too.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

Anonymous said...

Shawl is beautiful! You must have been knitting constantly to finish that one!

Sara said...

lovely shawl! and so urchin-like, color, design and all. Very nice work, congratulations!

Unknown said...

WOW blocking sure makes a huge diffrence with lace. it's huge not to mention just I can't spell the word I want to use as I just woke up but it's the best looking piece of knitting I've seen all year. merry holidays

Liz said...

You are amazing, and I will bow at your knitterly feet for a very long time to come.
Wow. Just wow.
Wear it with pride (& Merry Christmas Sue!).

Louisa said...

Ooohhh! Aaahhhh! What a beautiful job you did with the whole execution of this shawl: design, knitting and dyeing. Big congrats!

Jenni said...

What an incredible accomplishment. I have really enjoyed watching the shawl grow over the past year and I've been eagerly awaiting the results. It was well worth the wait. Congratulations! I can't wait to see what you do next :-)

cyndy said...

It IS a sea urchin! And a beautiful one at that! The overhead photos you took give me the illusion of the dome shape of the urchin...it is brilliant! What a wonderful representation of nature in a knit pattern Sue...it really is nice...lovely edging too....wow....awesome job!

vanessa said...

gorgeous beyond belief!

Jackie said...

Oh my! I am speechless! What a gorgeous piece of work. You so deserve to be proud and show it off to the world. ( I get proud of a finished pair of socks!)

Anonymous said...

Incredibly beautiful!

Hannah said...

Thanks for allowing me to post this on Yarnival!

Anonymous said...

Absolutely spectacular! I love it. Great work, and it really does look like a sea urchin.

DeeAnn said...

It is absolutely spectacular!! Bravo!!