Pattern: Open Waters by Ilga Leja

Yarn: Artfibers Ming, about 400 yards

Needles: US 8

Notes: Obviously, my shawl is very different from the one in the pattern photos.  I left off the fringe, since I’m not a fringe person, and I opted not to sew up the side.  I actually would have sewn it up, but my shoulders are rather narrow.  It would need to be about 4 inches narrower before I could wear it that way without it falling off.  The pattern was clear and easy to follow, and I’m so pleased with the results.  The yarn was simply lovely to work with, and I’m anticipating using more from Artfibers in the future.  This knit up very quickly – started Saturday afternoon and finished on Tuesday.  As long as you can stand lots of moss stitch and rows of wraps, I really recommend this pattern.  The result is lovely.  I did knit some extra rows in each of the seed stitch portions to make up for my shorter row gauge.  My shawl is about 15 inches long instead of the 18 the pattern calls for, but I think that’s for the best – it might overwhelm me if it were larger.