Project #2

After I finally finished the afghan for my husband, I could not wait to get started on my next project. I had purchased a book called "Crochet Prayer Shawls". I was really excited about this book. It was slightly intimidating, but the patterns claimed to be easy so I gave it a shot.

My first shawl attempt was "The Wisdom of Prayer" shown of the right. I was hoping to get it done in time for my Brother's wedding on March 1st. 

I started on February 16th and finished the same week. It took me awhile to get started. I had to learn the double knot stitch, but thankfully the pattern tells you how it is done. It took a little trial and error before my stitch was right, and once I got it I was good to go until I got to the end. When I got to the end of the pattern I was a little disappointed. The instructions for the edging were extremely confusing. I tried and tried to figure out what I was supposed to do. Everything I did looked awful, and nothing like the picture in the book. Unfortunately, there is not a very good picture provided of the edging, so that made it more difficult. I always need pictures. The more pictures I have the happier I am. :) Finally, I got tired of ripping out stitched so I decided to create my own edging ha ha. I did a simple edging where I chained 5-6 and then joined the chain to the edge of the shawl with a single crochet stitch. It was not as pretty as the picture looks, but it's something only I can tell and I am happy with how it came out.

One day I plan to make this again and really take the time to figure out what I was doing wrong with the edging. Here are some pictures of the final product!

In this picture below you can see the edging I did. It's really simple, and helps give the shawl it's shape. When it's handing free it ruffles a little which is what I was going for.

 

At the wedding I got a lot of complements. One of the servers could not stop saying how much she liked it. She asked at first if my grandmother had made it for me, but when I told her no I made it myself she was pretty surprised. It seems like people tend to think crochet is something only elderly ladies do. If that's so I guess I am one of them cause I love it!