Mama Rags' Shawl

These past few days I have been working on a shawl for Mama Rags.  Using my favourite yarn of the moment, Drops alpaca.  This is a beautifully soft yarn that rewards your efforts with excellent stitch definition and is available in an extensive palette of colours, ranging from the eye catching, jewel coloured solids to subtle muted tweeds, wonderful soft pastels reminiscent of sugared almonds and not forgetting the necessary staples of neutrals and darker tones.  Really, something for everyone no matter what the project.  I find the only difficulty this yarn presents is the lack of self control whilst in the yarn shop, quite beguiling, truly.  Fortunately, I was the grateful recipient of a fabulous gift of this yarn last Christmas .  

An indulgent treat, indeed.

The colours were chosen to add an old fashioned, vintage style to the finished doll, armed with a hook I set about making the miniature granny-squares to form a patchwork for the shawl.

The additional squares I made into miniature crochet beads to use in another project, at another time.

The completed squares were stitched together, following the blocking process, which can be a little tedious on miniature squares.

A quick fitting is in order to access the proportions, size and style, looking good Mama Rags.

..... perhaps an edging to consolidate the colours.

I think the gold, although vintage looking, brightens the whole shawl.

The addition of the forest green in the edging, I think, is a striking finish without overpowering the other colours, retaining a natural harmony and balance throughout.  However, I do need to block the edging, as you can see it is a little crimped.  In my opinion this technique is an important part of the making process, it creates a uniformity of stitch and size and gives a professional finish to the final piece, even to miniature garments.  

Originally I was thinking of a picot edging to finish but looking now it would be just an extra process with little effect.  Sometimes knowing when to stop is just as difficult as knowing what to do or how to begin.

I think it fits rather well.

I am going to finish the baby for her and try it to see if that is a step too far.  We'll see next time.