Okay, not really. I don’t even know where Rock Island is – and it doesn’t sound like a very pretty place. Sounds  . . . rocky. Rocky???? DID SOMEBODY SAY ROCKY????

ROCKY!

Oh, sorry. Pug attack.

What was I saying? Oh, yes! Yesterday I finished Brooklyn Tweed‘s Rock Island Shawl.

Rock Island Shawl

In my previous post about this shawl, I mentioned how frustrated I was at its start – having to do so many (71!!!) repeats on so few stitches to create the knitted border. Well, I got over that as soon as it was done. Like childbirth. I loved making the lacy insert you see, and what really surprised me was how much I enjoyed working the garter stitch body.

Lace Insert

I think part – a big part – of why I enjoyed this so much was my choice of yarn. I used a skein of Golden Fleece‘s “Nymph” in color way Orchid – 700 years of SeaCell (60%) and Silk (40%). I bought the yarn at Knitterly last year, and when I went back to Knitterly in January, they only had one skein left, and it was also Orchid. The yarn had a great hand feel – soft – and a springiness. And I love the way it has blocked – you can really see the stitch definition and each strand in the lace insert seems to lay the way I want it to.

Border

I wanna make this shawl again. No, really. Love it that much.