Bridgewater

I am busy working on a large square shawl.  I had originally picked this pattern to be a new baby gift but once I had picked the lovely green malibrigo wool I knew it would be completely inappropriate for a baby.  I mean the pattern itself would be fine, but the yarn is very thin and it's handwash only. 

I have to say this is the first time in my knitting career that I have knit something knowing it was a gift and through the process have decided that I really, really don't want to give it away.  I promise it will look like something more than a wrinkled blob once it's blocked - which should be soon now.

Anyway someone wanted to know about the last lace border that also finishes this beast. 

Let me go back to the beginning - this shawl starts with 1 stitch and you increase every row until you have the desired number of stitches and then you decrease back down to 1.  That took a fair amount of time.  Once you have a garter stitch square, then you pick up around the four sides and knit 40 rows of a border.

At that point you pick up some waste yarn and do a provisional cast on (one that can be ripped out leaving live stitches) 13 stitches on a double pointed needle. 

The final border is worked perpendicular to the shawl over those 13 stitches.  On every right side row you knit the last 2 stitches together.  Those last 2 stitches, one from the border stitches and one live stitch from the shawl.  So for every 8 row repeat of the final border, you are binding off 4 stitches!  A row counter is very important for keeping track of where you are. 

I have now been working on the final border for more than 2 weeks and I'm just ready to turn the 3rd corner.  I'm ready to be done with this and have it blocked.