Just a quick note to show you my Saroyan shawl, which I cast off last week. Although I do know that wool garments need to be dried flat, I never really thought about it until I learned about blocking. Saroyan was my first official ‘finished object blocked’ (FOB, not a bad acronym actually) and I am utterly pleased at how the blocked shape remains… well… in shape as I wear it. Wool is truly the most amazing thing.
I did not block aggressively (partly because I only had a small box of needles inherited from my grandmother) so I concentrated on the leaf pattern. That turned out really nicely although I wish Saroyan had been a bit wider. I loved knitting this pattern and I might cast on again, but I would increase more intensively and use more repeats to create a wider shawl.
I am very pleased with how it turned out nevertheless and in love with the Madeline Tosh… um… I’m afraid I have to admit I do not remember which MadTosh yarn and colourway I used. The photos are fairly true to colour and there is a lovely glaze to the yarn that makes it look truly luxurious. Definitely a yarn I will use again!
I find that I am drawn to patterns that reflect the natural world. You are doing a beautiful thing when you create such luscious, useful, intricately worked objects with yarn from nature, inspired by nature.
A gilded yarn 
It’s so lovely! Gorgeous work!
Thank you! I am really pleased with how it looks, too. It is my first ‘bigger’ project that I actually finished (unless you want to count a green and black pullover I knitted when I was 17, which was hijacked by one of my first boyfriends – I knitted that with my grandmother’s guidance). I find I often frog projects because they do not turn out the way I wanted. Do you have that too?
I do! Especially sweaters! I’ve frogged as many sweaters as I’ve kept… and many that I’ve kept should have been frogged to save the yarn because I won’t be seen out in public wearing them.
Beautiful edging.
It is lovely, isn’t it? Liz, the designer, has photos of a blue one on her Ravelry account. It looks so pretty in this yarn!