I love this yarn and the vendor I bought it from. Zephyr makes amazing shawls, and this cone has lasted forever. This’ll be the third shawl/stole from a single cone, and I’ve barely even made a dent. I think I’ll still have at least enough for at least three more large shawls, even after finishing Icarus. Not too bad for the price, especially considering the fiber content. I’m a big fan of Sarah’s Yarns. If I ever run out of this cone of Zephyr, I’ll be buying more.

01/11/10: Cast on and began working. Only the first row has been worked in the crappy webcam photo.

01/14/10: As of bedtime last night, I was 10 rows away from finishing my second repeat of chart 1.
The rows are starting to get long enough to be annoying, especially the purl rows, but that’s okay. The work is still going pretty quickly at this point. I’m just not a big fan of purling.
I do like working the pattern so far though.
And Shadow-kitty approves!

01/18/10: I am now 10 rows away from finishing the 4th repeat. The pattern calls for 6 full and one partial repeat, but I will probably take one of those full repeats out.
This is actually moving along pretty quickly. I know I still have a lot left to do. There are still 58 rows once I start the feathery section. But that’s okay. It feels like it’s going quickly, and that’s good enough for me.

1/22/10: I’m ready to start chart 2! I ended up cutting out two full repeats. I measured after finishing the 4th repeat and realized this thing is getting big. I am not big. I am 4’10” and would prefer a shawl that doesn’t cover me from head to toe and wrap around twice. So I worked rows 19-34 once more and measured again. Dry-blocked, the top currently measures 48”. That’s without the final 3 charts, which adds an additional 54 rows (plus 4 rows of edging). And the shawl will stretch more when it’s wet. I’ve used this yarn with these needles before, and I know I can expect it to stretch quite a bit when it’s wet. I don’t think I’m going to have any trouble reaching my target width of 58-60”. In fact, I’m just hoping that it doesn’t get too much bigger than that when blocked appropriately.

01/27/10: I’m halfway through with chart 3. New photos show how the feathery pattern is emerging.
(Yes, haha, in the close-up I’m holding the shawl edge with my teeth. I don’t have enough hands! I had to hold the shawl with both hands and my mouth and then push the button to take the photo with my elbow.)

1/29/10: I’m 4 rows into chart 4. Just 20 more rows of this chart, plus the final 4 edging rows and it’s done! I bet those last 4 rows take forever, though. That’s okay, my goal is to finish in less than a month, which gives me until Feb. 11. I think I can, I think I can!

1/30/10: Just finished row 18 of chart 4.
Chart 3 and the first half of chart 4 was pretty boring. I considered cutting out 2-4 rows, but I’m glad I resisted the temptation. It wouldn’t have made much difference in completion time, and the shawl looks better with all the rows.
I’m just really excited to see this blocked and finished. I keep stretching it out on the needles to look at it, and so far, I’m very pleased.

2/1/10: Finished the edging early this morning! It didn’t take nearly as long as I expected. A couple of hours, I guess, during which time I watched tv, talked to my husband, ate and did a few things on the computer. Not too bad.
Now I just have to bind off all these stitches. That probably will take forever. I’m saving that for later in the day, after sleep. Then washing and blocking!

2/1/10, 11:45 p.m.: Just finished pinning it out to block. Woohoo! Finished in just over 3 weeks! (3 weeks and about 22-23 hours.)
I’ll get pics before I unpin it tomorrow.

2/2/10: Blocking finished! Well, I may have to reblock the top portion … in order to get the points to block right, I had to allow some scallops across the top. It should be fine if I reblock just that portion to make it straight. But I may not bother. It may not be noticeable once I unpin the shawl, and even if they are noticeable, I may like them. Who knows? The shawl is supposed to look wing-like …
But it’s done, and I’m happy with it! The pictures are crap (uncooperative camera, poor lighting, etc.) but that’s okay.
BTW, the silky sheen you see in those pictures is not nearly as obvious in real life. IRL, it looks like the other pics, the ones without the sheen. But it’s still pretty.