Searched high and low for a fingering weight 100% acrylic to knit this shawl for my Gran. She’s in a nursing home now and I want something that will be easy to care for and won’t get ruined on a trip to the laundry. This RH Baby Sheen was as close as I could get; a little heavier than fingering, but I’m using bigger needles as I’m not expecting it to stretch as much as a wool would.

To block, I pinned the shawl out dry, using my blocking wires, and steamed it with a clothing steamer. I found really useful information in a Ravelry discusson and on the Beadknitter blog on blocking acrylic. I’m not sure whether or not I killed the acrylic, but I did get that ‘sigh’ described in the Rav discussion. It’s definitely softer than it was off the needles and the lace is permanently opened.

Terrible yarn to knit with, hard on the hands with no stretch or give at all. But it was a conscious decision and I am very happy with the finished shawl, and hope my Granny will love it too.