Gail Shawl and a Couple of Hats

Hi all -

Christmas keeps getting closer, and I keep working away at gifts. This weekend I finished my second shawl, from the Gail (aka Nightsongs) Shawl pattern by Jane Araujo. This pattern was a little more difficult for me to figure out because it didn't explicitly give the repeats. Instead, it showed the pattern for a leaf and how the leaves are woven together, and I had to figure out where the repeats were. It was a bit confusing for me, and there are a lot of mistakes, but I think it turned out well:

Here is a close-up of the leaf pattern:

The other thing I had trouble figuring out with this pattern was how big to make the shawl. The pattern was written as being for any size yarn and any gauge and you could make it as big as you wanted. But I know that lace grows when you block it, and I don't have a good sense yet for how much. So, while I was knitting I was afraid that I had made the shawl too big, but once I blocked it I kind of wished that I had added another repeat or two. But it'll be big enough. I'm still amazed at what a difference blocking makes, so here's a picture of the shawl before blocking:

I've also finished a couple of new hats. The first is from the Slouchy Hat with Picot Edge pattern by Jan Wise:

I really like how this hat turned out! I'm going to give this one to a friend for taking care of Lance while I'm in Houston, but I might have to make another one for myself. The other hat is from the Jesse's Christmas Hat pattern by Elspeth Kursh:

This would be a nice hat for a guy and will go into the bag of knitted items I'm donating to the homeless shelter. I should be able to drop that bag off this week, to help some people stay warm as the cold weather approaches.

Houston is fast approaching -- I leave a week from today. I can't wait to catch up with my quilting friends and see all of the amazing quilts!!

Nancy