Haruni

I don't think I've mentioned yet this big project I've been working on.  It's called Haruni.  Oh wait...nope...you're right.  You've heard me talk about this a lot in the last month or so.  Well I'm happy to report that it's FINISHED!

I made it my goal to finish this shawl by giving it some real one-on-one time.  Dedicating myself to working only on this project.  Slowly but surely I got through both charts, finished the bind-off and blocked it out.  The blocking itself took a couple hours that night.

You've heard me say this was a birthday present for my mom.  Her birthday was in March.  At least she got it before her next birthday!  She was so very patient, waiting for me to finish this.  It was fun to pick out the pattern and yarn with her as her gift.

This shawl reminds me a lot of my grandma.  As I've mentioned before, she was one of my inspirations to start knitting.  She used to knit us scarves, I loved that.  And as Mom and I were looking at the finished shawl, we just kept talking about how much she would have loved this.  Did you know that Haruni means "grandmother" in the Elven (think Tolkien's Lord of the Rings) language ?  Anyway, Grandma would have known exactly what to wear with this, as well as how to style it.  She would have had the perfect pin to use, too.  I'm sure she's looking down on us now, smiling! :) And you know what?  Mom's got that same sense of style and poise as Grandma.  She'll have just the right outfit and she'll have it pinned just the right way!

So on to specifics.  Mom's Haruni was made with Madelinetosh Prairie lace weight yarn in Baltic.  The slight variegation isn't very noticeable at first glance, but creates a little depth in the leaves along the edge.  The pattern calls for 4-ply, but we went a little lighter.

And once the shawl was blocked, the design really opened up.  Amazing, that blocking thing is!

I struggled a lot with Chart B.  The pattern isn't hard, but takes attention.  I admit to knitting while in front of the tv, or while riding in the car.  These are not distraction free locations!! :)  I ripped and tinked back more times than I can count.  Lifelines were my saving grace, I'm glad I took that advice.

Finishing this shawl makes me want to finish my Traveling Woman.  I'll get there.  But for now I like having the opportunity to work on short-term, instant gratification projects!  My latest project is already half-way finished!