There was much knitting, and knitting in ways I hadn't before, like making Latvian braids, a very time-consuming and frustrating way to make a pretty nice line.
There were giant holes, and swirls and fun stuff.
There were interminable wings in two colours, with an i-cord edge knit in. At some early point in this project I should have clued in and not done the i-cord edge, but it's a mystery, and we didn't even really know which end was up until it was too far along.
On the first clue he had us changing colours every few rows, and leaving all those yarn ends! I soon found I didn't have the patience for that, and made my colour changes more slowly, but still had too many ends at the starting point. The pattern tells you to leave them 8 inches long and then make them into little twisted cords to dangle, but mine were not that long. I sewed in all the other ends, along those dang Latvian braids, for example, and when I got to this point I just made a few little braids.
I had finished the knitting some time ago, and was just daunted by the idea of all those wretched ends, so this sat in time-out for a couple of months at least. Finally, I got it done, gave it a bath and can now see it in all its glory.
It is very wide in the wingspan. Very, very wide. I like a big shawl, but this is just too big!
And now we wait for next winter, because it's practically spring here now, and I certainly don't need a giant, grey shawl.
Remind me, next fall, that my love for Mr West's work is not boundless, and sometimes it's best to wait till others have made the mystery shawl before jumping in!
Spread out on the couch, it almost looks like you could turn it into a wooly shirt (except I guess you'd have to make a head hole. It certainly is BIG.
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