All finished - Japanese Feather and Fan Shawl

It's amazing what three or four days of crazed knitting will get you. I knit in front of the TV, knit while I read Macbeth, knit while I sat with friends,and knit while I listened to podcasts. The shawl flew off the needles, the stitches multiplied like rabbits in springtime. I went from a cast on of 13 stitches to a cast off of around 440. And yet, I enjoyed ever stitch and every second. No wonder it went so fast.

Japanese Feather and Fan shawl, a free pattern found via Ravelry.


This shawl is my fourth FO of the new year, and destined for my Grandmother as a Christmas present. Now, before you all think I've totally lost it when it comes to Christmas knitting in February, let me explain.

I had two balls of Knitpicks palette in my stash (I was a little overzealous when ordering for my Q socks) and a hankering for lace. But, I don't need another lace shawl. I don't wear the ones I have, and I didn't really want another one especially out of fingering weight wool.
And that is why this shawl has taken it's place in the Christmas '08 pile. No foresight or brilliance on my part. Just a whim, really. I do feel great to have gotten such a nice gift out of the way. I normally don't have the time or money to give my grandmother much around Christmas, and I am already looking forward to her reaction on Christmas day.

My grandmother is a textile artist, and it due in part to her influence that my passion for the fiber arts has blossomed into what it is today. She lives under my parents, and has a textile studio in the front apartment, where she teaches young kids (girls mostly) how to paint and sew.

And she is nothing if not creative. Bright red hair, a flair for the dramatic, and an eye for color have made for an interesting maternal grandmother, but through it all I have always been in awe of her wonderful artwork. She taught me to embroider and sew, and I am thrilled to be able to return to her the fruit of 21 years of artistic growth in the form of a shawl. I've come a long way since she sat me in front of the sewing machine at age 3.

And, it's a pretty fantastic pattern. I love this shawl.