off the needles: Pebble Beach Shawl

Nope, you're not seeing things; I did actually finish my Pebble Beach Shawl and it's a beauty!

In case you're wondering about the freaky get-up, myself, Mr P and some lovely ladies from knit club attended the annual Grand Regency Promenade at Bath's Jane Austen Festival this weekend (we're just that cool). As you can imagine, that's a whole other kettle of fish and there were a few knitty treats that I'll share with you next time. 

Anyhow, this was the shawl's first outing, so I persuaded Mr P to take some snaps on our way home. The FO shots are something I'm really trying to work on. Any tips would be most welcome! Neither myself or Mr P know much about photography, and I feel fairly awkward in front of the camera. I guess it will come with time. 

I think the pics show off the shawl nicely, though. I started it back in May for the CFTC Makealong and while it took absolutely ages, it was a really good challenge for me. I stepped out of my knitting comfort zone to try circular needles for the first time, working lace to make my first ever knitted shawl. 

For the picot bind-off, I had to learn how to do the knitted cast on method. It's a mildly shameful thing to admit as a knitter of some years, but I'd only ever used the thumb cast on prior to this! Here's to learning new things.

Curious Handmade's Pebble Beach is a fantastic pattern. The clear, grid-style format made it really easy to follow for a lace novice, and the stitch counts on each row helped a lot. I could check if I'd gone wrong or not! There was a fair bit of tinking with this project, but those stitch counts kept me on the straight and narrow. I loved the percentages, too, to indicate how much I'd completed. I think the pattern's now available as a full-size shawl, too.

It's a beautiful accessory and it really came alive after blocking. Going to just wear mine forever now. 

All the details, as usual, are on Ravelry here.