Hanami stole finished!

Hello,

The Hanami stole is done! After almost 3 months, here it is:

I was a bit disappointed when I was done knitting, because it looked so insubstantial ...


... , but the blocking really brought out the beauty of the patterns:

Blocked measurements: If I count the ruffle, it’s 5 feet by 16 inches. A bit shorter and narrower than I like (despite my added rows), but alright. I modified it as follows:

• added one Basketweave pattern repeat
• fewer repeats of pattern G
• added a few rows to almost all of patterns A to F to balance a) the added Basketweave, and b) the fewer repeats of pattern G
• changed pattern G from straight rows of cherry-blossom petals to diagonal ones, because the straight rows don’t look as organic and because the diagonal rows better “close the circle” with the diagonal Basketweave pattern
• instead of the recommended Alpaca Cloud yarn I used Grignasco MerinoSilk

If I had to do it over, I would use either the recommended yarn, or smaller needles with the MerinoSilk, in order to get better stitch definition. Also, despite the instructions to bind off purl-wise on the right side, the ruffle curls a lot, so I would bind it off on the wrong side instead.

Here it is one more time on one of our cherry trees, and with the supervising cat in the background:


And the Funnelneck sweater is progressing nicely, too. I'm almost done with the first side panel.

After working so long with fine yarn, it's amazing how much faster it knits up than the stole!

Till next time.