It’s finished! My beautiful Laminaria, which I call the “Mango Snapple Shawl” because the color reminds me of a favorite snapple drink growing up. Isn’t it pretty?
I’m so proud of this piece of knitting. Not that I’m not proud of other things I’ve made, but I’m especially proud of this because it is lace, and lace is no easy thing. Even easy lace patterns are hard compared to plain knitting, but well worth the effort, in my opinion.

I really enjoyed the Laminaria pattern. I struggled with the charts in the beginning just because I was a little confused about the repeats within a row, but after searching through finished projects on Ravelry for self-assurance, it was smooth sailing the rest of the way. I only had 450 yards of yummy mango alpaca yarn, so I did the smaller version of this shawl and it turned out just the right size for me. Luckily, it also only took me four days of knitting to complete and an extra day for blocking, so five days from start to finish–less than a week for a lace project.

Here’s a picture of what it looked like after I cast-off. The lace pattern isn’t noticeable and the shawl looks all jumbled and wrinkly. I originally thought I would be able to use my blocking set I won from a blog contest for the first time.But after taking a ten minute soak in a Woolite bath, the shawl ended up being too big to fit on the blocking boards, so I went with my usual method of towels. The soak really loosened up the fibers by an extra 6 or 7 inches wide I would say.
Unfortunately, I used the ugly plaid towels to block it, so not a flattering picture.
As soon as I pinned out the shawl as far as it could stretch, the lace detail just went *POP* “Here I Am.” It took all my self-control to let it completely dry before I unpinned it.

Not only did I discover a new passion for lace knitting, I also discovered the self-timer on my camera…
I ended up with just enough yarn leftover to make a mini lace cross bookmark for my Bible (I couldn’t throw away a bit of this leftover yarn). I wore my Mango Shawl to church on Sunday and it was cozy warm around my neck and shoulders, just in time for the first Fall cool-down (it got down to a chilly 75 degrees here in Arizona over the weekend).

Now I’m having lace withdrawals. Luckily, my stash contains yarn for four other lace projects, so I can satisfy my craving without breaking my 100 day ban (currently on Day 19, ugh).