PROGRESS!!

A huge thank you to all who sent kind words yesterday. I took all your advice. I fixed some snacks and washed them down with a few Cosmopolitans. Then I was ready for dinner, which consisted of a glass, no a bottle, of wine and a pint of Coffee Haagen Daz. For dessert, I had lots of chocolate! And look what happened:

Charlotte, unblocked. Measured exactly 24" in length down the center. Really a very unimpressive, shrivelled up looking thing. Oh, and yes, I have NO regrets for all the back-tracking and re-knitting. I am in a good place with the finished product. Thanks for all the encouragement to RIP!

Charlotte blocking. See how lacey and transparent she becomes - I was so surprised! I soaked her for 15 minutes in a tepid bath with wool wash, in a pillow case, and gently spun out the excess water. Then I stretched the dickens out of her to achieve 38" in length and 76" in width. Used tons of pins. I HIGHLY recommend a LOOSE bind-off. I went up two needle sizes for the bind-off, and if it was looser still the stretching would have been easier.

These are my 5 colors in order. Notice anything strange? Why did I almost run out of Color 4, and have enough 5? Did anyone else have this experience? (I have an extra ball of 5 for my edging.) Maybe we should have a left-over exchange. If anyone runs out - post what you need!

I decided to block and then add a border. I really think it is going to be a shell edge, which I found in a crochet book from the library - it looks so similar to Vanessa's lovely edge on her CW. I am going out of town until Wednesday for work, so the edge will have to wait, along with my final photos. I'm going to miss Charlotte and all my blogging pals while I'm gone, not to mention my own little blog!

Comments

[Kitty]

It's BEAUTIFUL!!!!

[Chris]

It looks gorgeous! Do we get a photo finish on when it's done?

[annie]

Even unblocked it was hardly an "unimpressive, shrivelled up looking thing". [be careful of google hits for that phrase ;) ]. It is beautiful! So perfect in every way. I love it unblocked, I love it blocked....I LOVE IT!

(Could I gush any more?)

Have fun on your trip. We'll keep an eye on your blog!

[Uli]

She looks gorgeous..... Think of colour 4 and 5... I know you keep adding more stitches but with colour 4 you do the rows of blending with colour 3 and then the solid of colour 4 and then the blending of colour 4 and 5. With colour 5 you only do the blending with colour 4 and then the solid rows of colour 5. Now, mathematically, I haven't figured out the # of stitches (I could you know. :-)))) but just off the cuff I'd think that you use more of colour 4 than of 5. But anyways.............. what a beautiful looking Charlotte. I'm on row 128 or something like that. Haven't touched her yet today and don't know if I'll get a chance. The laundry keeps calling me.

[Donna]

It's lovely :)
Thanks for the tip on casting off!

[Mary Beth]

Thanks everyone.
Chris - Definately! I'll photo with the edge on.
Uli - Well, I'm feeling kind of silly right now. I was only thinking of the number of stitches! What would I do without your quantitative mind. So all you folks out there -it's color number 4 you might need more of - you'll be fine with 5.
Annie - LOL - I was just kind of surprised when I was done with it how tiny it was. Oops. There I go again.
Addendum with Margene in mind - honestly, I didn't REALLY get "reading" the pattern until I ripped out so many times that the markers came off. Then I could see it. For me, this took a VERY long time, but it did happen. Think about dropping the markers...

[sandy]

A work of art, Mary Beth! I am stunned at it's beauty! The colors are really great!
Thank you for sharing the stuff about it's size, so I won't panic when I see how small mine is!
:)
Enjoy your time away! It will make home more sweet!
I miss ya already!

[Eva]

It really looks beautiful :)

[Kerstin]

Absolutely gorgeous! You are smart to block before putting the edging on. I added the first two rows of the edging from the pattern and it does mess with the stretch factor. Hurry back!

[Kathleen]

Is that your bed? Where will you sleep? :) She looks beautiful. Fab job blocking. I can't wait to see it with its edging.

[Brenda]

All I can say is WOW!!!!!

[jessica~]

Wow! :) what a beautiful charlotte. I love the pinks. Hey - thats a pretty big clock you've got there...

[Leigh]

beautiful! I especially like how you used the colors--the dark and medium balls used on the ends and the middle really balance out the design. (what colors did you use?)

[Christina]

Charlotte is beautiful; I love the your colors. I had decided against making one of my own, but now am strongly reconsidering.

[s m i t t e n]

WOW. that is stunning.

intuition whispered to bind off looser than usual, but my bound-off edge was still a pain in the butt for blocking.

[Gail]

It looks really great!

Personally, from wandering about the web, a good blocking is desperately important to an impressive Charlotte. The few I"ve seen that haven't been blocked hard enough aren't as great as the really crisp ones. Yours looks great.

[sandy]

I miss you!!!!

[Laurie]

Can't wait to see a photo of you wearing it. It's stunning.

[annie]

I second what Sandy said. I miss you! Hurry back...and let us know when you are back in blog-world!

Hope your trip was stress-free and enjoyable.

[Siow Chin]

Hello from Hong Kong! Your shawl is simply stunning! I, too, am considering a crochet edge instead of fringe. Thanks for telling us about the 4th colour because I'm just thinking of repeating the first colour as my fourth. Looks like I'd better think twice.