A shawl fit for Graduation Day

Several weeks ago, I purchased a new dress for Andrew’s graduation. The graduation is this Sunday. The dress is sleeveless, and you never know what the weather will be like in Vermont in June, so I thought it would be nice to knit a shawl to go with it.

So about two weeks ago, on my day off, I made a special trip to the shop to look for the perfect yarn. And I found it! In the basket on the front table we had one skein of Tilli Tomas Rock Star in the color Novea Melon. It matched perfectly with the dress, and the beads on it were a spectacular color! I figured I'd need one or two more skeins, so I went upstairs to check the back stock.

Bad news. It was the last skein we had. Barb called Tilli Tomas, and got even more bad news. That color had been discontinued! So I had to figure out how to use just one skein, mix in something else that worked... and then what kind of pattern would be suited to two colors, and still work with my dress?

I had lots of help from Barb and Jill and we came up with a solution - I added a skein of Pure & Simple in a complimentary color. As you can see, the finished shawl is gorgeous.

And believe me, it was quick! I was pressed for time, and easily finished this in time for the big event. I’m not one for lace work and I did make a couple of mistakes. But I brought it into work, and Barb helped me get back on track.

And since we've already had several customers asking about it, the pattern is now ready!

TIP

Barb also gave me a great tip for lace knitting! Run some dental floss through your row every 10 rows or so. If you drop a stitch, you can easily pull your work back to the dental floss, without worrying about royally messing up!