Finally Finished!

I finished the last round of my Mystery Shawl 3 on Sunday afternoon, then promptly balked at the notion of using the recommended backstitch bindoff to get it off the needles. That means cutting the yarn (suggested length is 4 times your finished edge, or about 23 yards in this case) and threading a needle, and going purlwise through 2 stitches, knitwise through the first one, and taking that first one off the needle. Repeat until done. How do you manage that much yarn? What if I didn't cut it long enough? So I tried another bind-off that doesn't involve cutting the yarn ahead of time, and it was too tight. I spent hours perusing my knitting books, looking for an edging to knit on, then realized that not only would I have to find one that would go with the rest of the lace patterns, but also that would fit on the 188x4 stitches around the edge of the shawl. I just wasn't up for that much thinking.

I posted a message to the Yahoo group, asking what others had done, and I got several responses. I also looked at the bind-off instructions for the Leaf Lace shawl, which I completed in January, and this is what it says (though I don't remember doing this): k2, * slip those 2 sts back on the left needle and k2tog through the back loop, k1, repeat from * until done. So that's what I did. I wondered about the through the back loop business, until I realized it's actually a time saver -- if you put the tip of the left needle into the front of the 2 sts on the right needle, you're ready to k2tog through the back loop.

I took a picture this morning before my helpers left for school:

Blocking is going to have to wait until the a/c is turned on, or possibly if we have to build a fire in the woodstove. The outside temps are in the 60's, and the air is damp, so if I tried to block the shawl now, it would take forever to dry. It might be chilly enough to require a fire tonight and/or tomorrow, though -- then I would just have to make the dogs stay outside. I actually wore the poor little crumpled thing around the house most of the day, to ward off the chill. Could have just put on a sweatshirt, but where's the charm in that when you have a silk & wool lace shawl?