THE KNITTING CHALLENGE - CHRISTMAS 2012

NONNA'S GARDEN SHAWL

Two years ago my precious daughter-in-law sent me this pattern and ask me would it be possible for me to make this shawl for her.  I will have to admit, that at that time, I was not at all sure I was capable of doing this. However, not wanting to disappoint her, I told her that I would make it.

Well, a year later I finally undertook this operation. To say that it was a challenge would be a real understatement. I spent the first part of the year getting all of my other knitting projects for Christmas finished. I wanted to have plenty of time to do this shawl for her.

I started the shawl in mid-September of 2012 and finally managed to get it finished the week before Christmas of 2012.

If you are a knitter, and you decide to start this pattern please be aware that you are undertaking an extremely difficult project. This shawl uses 14 different colors. It is printed on a graph rather than the instructions being written out. The difficulty comes  because this graph is printed in color and you are switching from one dark color to another. It is difficult to tell where the colors switch at times.

In order to correct this problem I undertook to write out on a graph paper each and every line of this shawl. There are 320 rows in this pattern.

I will also be the first to admit that the finished shawl is not perfect. However, my daughter-in-law is thrilled with it and I am extremely happy that I undertook the project and managed to finish it.

The back of the shawl is lined with light weight burgundy velvet which gives it a nice finished appearance. She loves it, I love it, and it is finished.

I doubt that I will ever undertake this pattern again, but at least I got it done for someone who is very very important and very special to me. 

The finished shawl measures 7 feet long by 30 inches wide. One of my friends got pen and paper and managed to figure out that there are somewhere around 46,700 individual stitches in this shawl.

If, as a knitter, you are looking for a challenge, give this pattern a go. You will not be disappointed. You may be frustrated at times but, believe me, the end result is well worth it.