Wedding shawl blooms

It's a shawl fit for a marriage. I absolutely loved knitting it. I sometimes avoided knitting it. It sparkles and shines. It's a little imperfect. But the bride wore it beautifully on her wedding day.

Dancing with Dad

My sister asked for something not white and beaded. So first, the yarn. I was initially torn between Interlacements' 12-Ply Frizz for its green and Ray of Sunshine for its sheen. But I dropped both in favor of Sweet Feet. It had the light and dark greens plus the elasticity desired for all those knit-togethers. It's the perfect combination of wool and shiny silk.

Sweet Feet plus beads

Knowing what their wedding flowers were ...

Bridesmaid bouquet

I then found the perfect pattern. I chose the Hydrangea Petal Lace Shawl by Renee Van Hoy (from her Loom Knit Shawls: From Simple to Sublime e-book). I studied the pattern to find the perfect spot to add those beads. After a little trial and error, I nailed the center of each and every hydrangea flower.

Beaded flowers

For fellow loomers who would like to add beads to this pattern ...
On Rows 7, 17 and 31, slide bead onto the stitch on first K/K. If it's not perfectly centered on the right side, you might need to pop the bead through just one stitch to move it up or down.

If I tried this again, I might crochet on the beads instead of stringing them. I'm not sure if that is faster but it would be worth a try! I got a little tired of pushing down beads to get to the yarn, especially since I strung on more than I needed. Don't ask me how many — it was somewhere between 200 and 400 beads.

After a few repeats, I just loved how the flowers came together in this pattern. Lace just feels like magic sometimes. Renee does use some different abbreviations that I'm not used to. But they are outlined clearly in the Stitch Guide. You'll be repeating them a lot in a shawl so it comes naturally in no time.

The shawl laid nicely on the bride's shoulders without her tugging it back on or even tying it.

A couple of tips to keep in mind for happy knitting:

• All knits are e-wrap! I tink'd back a few times when I accidentally reverted to my go-to u-wrap knit stitch.
• In the first section, listen to Renee and add those markers as increases are made. I did not and I had to guess where they would have been so I could do the next section. Thus my hydrangeas grew a few extra petals (or leaves) for that middle section of shaping. Hey, the "enhancement" made it just a bit more airy for summer wearing. ;-)
• If you already have this pattern, make sure you get the errata on Ravelry for Rows 31-37.
• Block well and match the lengths on both sides if needed. 

The shawl was even dance-proof!