That's it! I grafted the final row of the edging to the first row to make an invisible seam. I'm done except for blocking. That will have to wait a bit as I am swamped right now, with no prospect for a large block of free time with a floor to hand in order to play with the thing before the latter part of July. Still, I'm done. Here's a shot of my Alcazar in all its rumpled, squished edge, pre-block glory that we can use for comparison to the (eventual) post-block photo I promise to plaster up here as soon as it is available.



Unblocked it measures about 40 inches across. If worked in the suggested needle size with the suggested yarn, this shawl is supposed to block out to be 56 or so inches across. I'll probably make it to 48 or so, tops because both my yarn and needle were smaller than those recommended.

Lessons learned:

1. Read the pattern and make sure you understand it before embarking on a project.
2. Faux silk (rayon) is a very unforgiving and unstretchy material from which to knit lace. Care must be taken with gauge because it's very easy to knit too tightly.
3. Did I mention the "read your pattern" thing?
   
4. There are some minor quibbles in the pivot charts. Occasional one or two stitch fudging is necessary to make the edging and corners come out right. While I'd rate the majority of this pattern as "quite straightforward and quick to knit if you're comfortable with charts" and "a challenge mostly because of size, not because of complexity" those little problems might be enough to set a beginner off his or her feed. But even a lace knitting beginner, armed with the knowledge of where those little nuisances might be and the courage to work through them, could complete this project.
   

Now what?

I have the opportunity for some serious knitting time over the next week. I had hoped that I'd still be working on this shawl, but wonder of wonders - I finished early. I might pick up the Rogue again, but it's not particularly convenient for my target window (why will become evident in ten days).

To be truthful, I haven't quite licked the lace/non-wool knitting bug yet. There are lots of options. I've got some lace-weight linen in the stash. I've got a Rachel Schelling pattern collection here somewhere. I could play with them together. Or now that I've got the cotton to knit my North Truro Counterpane, I could restart that project. Other possibilities are the doilies on Yarn Over. I have as little use for doilies as I have for shawls. They look fun to knit, but I haven't the inclination to use them. I could use a table runner though. Hmmm.

Round-up - Needle sizes and Kitchener Stitch

Finally, for those that are asking - I will return to the needle summary as soon as I have time. Those data notes take a bit of research to write up, and time hasn't exactly been plentiful.

And on the Kitchener Stitch documentation project, I've been in touch with a couple of people active in historical British military kit research. They're branching out to their own networks, and have recommended some sources that might confirm (or debunk) the notion that Kitchener's revised clothing specifications included seamless toe socks. No one has offered up any other citations. So I'm still looking...