Kimono Shawl

Ever since I started to knit I had been lace knitting. Initially it looked very daunting to me - knitting with such fine yarn and hair-pin size needles didnt particularly appeal to me. I did love all the lovely finished products that I saw on other knitting blogs. Three years ago, I finally decided to make good use of one of the lace books I had. I pretty much use to ogle at the book without attempting to make any thing from it. On one of my yarn shopping trips with a friend, I scored some really lovely Malabrigo lace weight yarn, on sale. I knew that I had at last found the inspiration to knit my very first shawl.
The Kimono Shawl is the best shawl for a beginner lace knitter. It is knit like any normal rectangular project, so there is no need for grafting pieces together. The pattern itself is a very easy pattern to get used to once you hit a few inches.
This shawl was definitely a labor of love, I started it 3 years ago, did 4 of the recommended 25 repeats. I then put it down because of other things taking priority. I knit another 4 repeats in 2010, the major bulk of knitting was done in 2011. I took a break again because I was too lazy to wind up more yarn. I had probably 2 or 3 repeats left which I got done exactly 3 years to the date, after I began. I did only 21 repeats because I saw that the shawl was going to be long enough without getting to 25 repeats. After blocking, the shawl was 20x90 inches.
I actually calculated how many sts. I knit - 63648 sts  and approximately 140 hrs!
I just used some thin crochet thread I had and blocking pins to block this beauty.

It truly is a beauty. Very delicate, elegant, soft and nothing like anything I've ever knit before. I had this absolute feeling of exhilaration when I held it in my hands after blocking. A great sense of satisfaction.

Pattern: Kimono Shawl from Folk Shawls by Cheryl Oberle.
Yarn: Malabrigo Lace Merino #28 Blue Surf 50gm/470 yds. I used 2.5 skeins.
Needle: U.S. #6 24 inch circular needles
Notions: 2 st markers