Almost Back To Where Things Went Wrong

I have persevered with my knitting, although I admit there have been days where I haven't done any when perhaps I should have, and I am now almost back to where things went disastrously wrong. This time I have knitted the Shetland lace shawl on a slightly smaller needle and it seems to look a lot better and because its gauge is a little tighter the pattern seems to be neater and I have had fewer problems with stitches being dropped.

Getting it completed is becoming a bit of a race against time because the baby for whom it is being knitted is due in the next week or so. Even when I have finished the knitting I will still have to block the shawl to enhance its shape and to fix the pattern. Fortunately I invested in a blocking kit last year, which comprises a series of metal rods that allow the shawl to be stretched while it is barely damp so that it takes a nice shape which should remain with it forever.

Once the shawl has been blocked, it will need to be carefully wrapped and packaged ready for dispatch to the USA. Although the baby's parents are both Canadian, they are working at Duke University in North Carolina at present. The shawl won't arrive in time for the birth, but it should be there in plenty of time for the Christening.