Remember this shawl I knitted in 2009? Lovely drape, right? I used it once to a company gala dinner that year and got nice compliments. When my sister asked for a shawl, she picked this one because it was a good size and she could wrap it around her shoulders nicely. So it went to live with her. But, someone mistakenly put the shawl in the laundry basket and … and… oh, just look below. It’s murderous!

Waaaah!!!!

Okay so I may be overreacting but the photograph does not show you how the stitches have felted together. It’s not drapey anymore although the ruffles still look okay. The body of the shawl is now a bit more stiff than it should be. It’s still a good size but it shrunk about 15% maybe?

Hopefully this week’s WIP, or one of many I started anyway, will not shrink. It’s organic cotton for starters and will be washing machine-friendly. It’s a Hemlock Ring Blanket I started a couple of nights ago. The yarn is so soft to work with so hopefully it will stay like this after washing. This project is inspired by a recent FO from a fellow Amira, Dieuwke. Go check out her cozy blanket here.

This is a present for my newborn baby grandson, Nash. Yes, in case you don’t follow me on Facebook, I recently became a grandmother. My daughter Viel gave birth to a baby boy on the 17th of March. This blanket along with so many other hand-knits I plan to whip up in the next couple of weeks will go to Nash.