Chilly Chicken

My mother-in-law is always cold. 98 degree heat wave? Ma's cold. She wears hoodies in the summer. I call her my chilly chicken (don't ask). She has COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease), and since Chicago in August is one of the worst places to be if you have breathing problems, she has to run the air conditioner all the time. You know, like a normal person would in August in Chicago. Living here is a little like living in the Amazon, but without the interesting animals and attractive scenery.

Of course, my mother-in-law is always cold because she has no adipose tissue (read: fat). I offered to give her some of mine (I have plenty to share). Or I could make her a shawl. Strangely, she opted for the shawl.

I finished the Wing O' the Moth shawl last week and finally blocked it yesterday. It did not block well, and I am not entirely happy with it. I think the main problem was the cast off. The instructions say "bind off in knit". So I did a plain old-fashioned knitted bind off. Uh-uh. I make every effort to bind off loosely, and I even used a needle 3 1/2 sizes larger than what I used to knit the shawl. It was still too tight. I thought so before I blocked it, but I thought maybe the knitting gods would make magic and it would be all right. Nope. The fir cone stitch didn't open up as much as I would have liked, and I couldn't get a really good stretch on the coronas. And believe me, I am an aggressive blocker. Poop.









I did not frog. I did not fix it. I admit it - I am lazy. And I knew my mother-in-law would love it anyway. But if I were to make the shawl again (which I may) I would use a different bind off.

Here it is being modeled by the lovely Eleanore. I know the photos could be better, but it's the best I could manage in a pinch. No time for a real photo shoot, since I must rush it to the recipient before she freezes to death in her own home!









The chicken will be chilly no more.

Pattern: Wing O' the Moth
Yarn: KnitPicks Alpaca Cloud in Sand, 3 hanks
Needles: Size 7 (size 10.5 for binding off)