Shallowtail Shawl

We're going on a weekend getaway for our anniversary, and one night we'll be going to eat at a nice restaurant. I have a brown dress that I plan to wear and I really wanted a shawl to go with it. I got this yarn in the mail last week and fell in love with it, knowing that it was the right yarn for the shawl for this dress. (The yarn is yummy! It's called Dream in Color Smooshy. Isn't that just a cool name? The color is November Muse.)



Now I needed to find a pattern, something that I could actually finish in a week. A lot of people on Ravelry have been talking about this Swallowtail Shawl, so I thought I'd give it a try.

After a week of knitting, I am happy to report that it is finished! I learned a lot with this pattern and feel much more confidant about lace knitting now. I also learned about the magic of blocking. Blocking is basically wetting the yarn and stretching it out to the shape/size you want it and then letting it dry.

Pre-blocking, the shawl looked like a bunched mess of yarn:


Definitely not a gorgeous shawl like I want it. But with the magic of blocking, it now looks like this (it's still drying on the blocking board, so no pictures off the board yet):



MUCH better! And here's a closeup so you can see the pattern a little more:



It's a tad smaller than I thought it would be and I don't think I've stretched out the right side as much as the left, so after this weekend, I'll probably block it again and see if I can get it to stretch out a little more. But I can't wait for tomorrow when it should be dry and I can actually try it on!