Hemlock Ring Throw - Finished!

I really loved watching this flower unfurl. Once I got past the initial knit, frog bit and was able to "see" the pattern in my minds eye, it was a breeze. It gets pretty heavy towards the end. Knitting the edging / casting off is not difficult, but it gets cumbersome flipping the thing back and forth to work the edging. I imagine it would be easier using a 10.5' DP, which I didn't have so I suffered with the huge circulars flapping around. The edging is lovely, but a crocheted edge would be just as nice and quicker to work.

I didn't use pins or wires to block it I just pulled and arranged the edging with my fingers and it looks great. When I make the next one I'll use three skeins of the cocoa. Even though it gets heavy to work I want it larger, more of a blanket than a throw. As is it will look gorgeous as a topper on an accent table, or thrown on the back of a sofa. The texture is really unbelievable and the wool has a nice polish.

Hemlock Ring Throw

I began this throw on January 11, 2008 at my knitting retreat. I just about completed the center medallion but the retreat was interfering with my concentration and I started making mistakes, so I put it down and worked on a prayer shawl for a while. Anyway, I have been working on the throw non-stop since January - knitting and ripping - I was making good progress - so I thought - until the pattern would no longer work because I made a serious mistake in the rows just after the medallion, so I ripped out an entire skein of Cascade Ecological - 478 yards worth - to fix my error. All of the knit bloggers working on this project made it seem so easy. I was beginning to think that I was the only one who couldn't do it. But after the massive frogging, I studied Brooklyntweed's photos and followed his chart, and it has made all the difference. Right now I have in excess of 300 stitches on 40" circs and I have an entire ball of wool to go, but now that I have it figured out it is a great knit. I love the way the feather and fan spreads out - it is so graceful.

I'm also working on a hat for my son Randy in his Delta Nu Fraternity colors. Thanks to Janette, I was able to work out a pattern that he will wear.

Last night I went to dinner and saw NUNSENSE in Spring Lake, NJ with my knitting group. It was so much fun, especially because we were with 5 "plain-clothes" nuns who are great fun. My daughter almost won a Pope on a Rope for answering a "Quiz" question correctly, but instead got a St. Christopher card from Sr. Mary Amnesia. The Little Sisters of Hoboken got them on sale because Christopher is no longer a saint. The show was hilarious and the company was the best! Can you spot the plain-clothes nuns?