Check!

I needed an "Oh shit, I have so much schoolwork!" break, so I took one. I'm back! I'll be on track next week, too, so I'll have some knitting, et cetera to share next week. Today, I have a very special FO!

This WIP has been on my list of things to finish for a very, very long time. Now it is not on that list anymore!

Rudens

Pattern: Shipwreck Shawl by Knitting Harpy
Yarn: Noro Silk Garden Sock in Color 269
Needles: US 4, 8, 9, 10, 10.5, 11
Project Page

I began this shawl in the spring of 2009, my second semester in grad school. I had never knit a shawl or anything on circular needles (I was afraid of them!), but I loved this pattern so much the moment I saw it, that I had to make one! I wanted it in neutral yarn and the only qualifying yarn the LYS (where I now work!) had was Noro Silk Garden Sock.

It went really quickly until I had to start adding beads. I grabbed a couple packs at Hobby Lobby or something, one a variety with wooden, pearly, and a few seed beads, the other brown seed beads. Picking out defective beads wasn't too bad. Stringing thousands of beads was not my favorite. Stringing beads on thick-and-thin, super fragile Noro is the reason this shawl has not been touched in a few years.

But now it's done and it's pretty fabulous, if I do say so myself. I began this project in my phase where I just knitted whatever I liked without really thinking about it's function as a finished object, so I'm at a loss about what to do with it. I tried giving it to my grandma, but I worked to hard on it to just give it away the moment after I bound it off! So now it's hanging on the back of a chair where I can admire it and pat myself on the back for not forgetting about it entirely.

I'll probably give it to my grandma, but she'll have to wait a month or two. :) It will look prettier draped over the back of her couch than our chair (besides, that's where Rams and Ewes is going once I finally get that back sewed on right!).

It's a load off my mind to have finally finished this monster! I've been knitting easier. :) I'm sure you all have that project too. The one that nags you every time you cast something new on and it sits sad in its hideout? Sometimes they just need to sit for a while, so don't feel too bad about it. Though I would like to know...what is that project for you?

For more FO Friday posts, head over to Tami's Amis!