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!