Winter into Spring

This morning they were still ice fishing out on the bay. The ice must still be plenty thick to support all those trucks out there.

That's why when it came time to think of a name for my newly completely shawl, as Soo and Lacefreak did for theirs, the obvious winner was what engulfed me the entire time it was being knit.

So presenting, the Crown Prince of Winter. To solve the size problem, I extended the edging out.
It's the same one as in the book, just kept repeating two rows over and over in the middle until I got sick of it.

This design was constructed in the traditional Estonian way, with the edge made in two pieces (each piece for two sides of the square), sewing up two miters on the corners and around the entire perimeter. I like to try out traditional construction methods, but thinking about sewing on an entire border certainly held no appeal, especially when something like a Russian graft could easily accomplish the same purpose. So, that's what I did--made two borders but Russian grafted them to the center instead of sewing them. You need to think ahead and keep the center square edge sts loose to provide plenty of stretch, which is also why I did a provisional cast on and did not cast off the sts on the center square.

I did sew up the miters, though. Working the border in the round would eliminate the need to do it, but the thought of trying to ensure 800+ sts were not twisted when joining made that notion fly out the window.
The trick to sewing the miter is to do it very loosely so that it can be adjusted during the blocking process.

Okay, here's the arty glamour girl shot.
And, a close up. See, still winter outside the window.
But, just when you think the weather will never change. A day or two with temps above freezing can bring amazing results. Gail, this pic is especially for you because I know you remember the complete and utter glee when you see the first sign of spring.
Robins!!!