stick a fork in it

My youngest son compared the colors of this shawl to an undercooked slab of meat, specifically pork.  My older daughter backed him up.  I didn’t see it—and still don't, not really—but I can't unhear that comparison.

Honestly, I've been back and forth about the colors.  Do they complement each other? Maybe? I don't know what in my wardrobe goes with it, for sure.  The coffee dye bled when I blocked it.  Hopefully that will continue a little and that greeny brown-grey will soften?  Whatever the color issues, the yarn's a great weight for spring; the shawl's a perfect size.

The details:

YARN

Skacel Merino Lace in the color 700 (gray)                                            78 g used

    deep stash, held double to match gauge of other two yarns
Knit Picks Shadow Lace in the color Oregon Coast Heather                    21 g used

    also deep stash and leftovers from a shawl I made in 2008
Brooklyn Tweed Vale in the color Arabesque                                            26 g used

    I have two skeins in different dye lots.  Not only are the colors quite different, but also the thickness of the yarn.

NEEDLES

Chiaogoo US 5, 3.75 mm Bamboo fixed 40" circular for garter square and border/bind off

Chiaogoo US 4, 3.5 mm Red Lace fixed 40" circular for garter in the round 

More details about the color and yarn.

PATTERN

Brooklyn Tweed's Quill Hap, small size directions with mods

It blocked out to 33"/84 cm square, due to the different weight yarn (lace vs. fingering) and the border modifications.  

MODIFICATIONS

Since I only had three colors to work with, I changed the colors on the chart to reflect that.  It took me a few tries both with a chart and colored pencils, and the actual shawl.  I'm happy with the result!  Additionally, I wasn't sure if I had enough of the Skacel to knit the entire lace border, so I had a few trials of alternatives.  First I held the Skacel singly, which looked too wispy and insubstantial.  Next, I used the Vale, but that wasn't the right color.  Finally, I knit eleven garter rounds in the Skacel and used a picot bind-off.  I am immensely proud of the mathematical acrobatics my brain did to ensure that the picot nupps were not only evenly spaced, but that one landed on each corner.  In hindsight, I probably had just enough of the Skacel to knit the border as the pattern indicated.  Maybe.  As much as I like my finished shawl, I like the original lace border better than what I wound up doing.  I just couldn't face the possibility of running out of yarn a few inches from the finish line.  That would have put me off all knitting for at least a month!