Seraphim

I don't even know how to start this post, because I don't honestly know if I have ever felt *this* way about another knit. So, I'll simply start with a photo.

Seraphim is almost like a dear friend. She represents a lot of hard work before I even purchased the yarn, since I used this Koigu indulgence as a bribe to get me back to the gym. In fact, this shawl represents 12 consecutive weeks of spin classes.

She then became a dear companion to me during my summer of long hours and overtime at the office. I knit her almost exclusively during the few hours of knitting time I had from the beginning of July, when she accompanied me to Idyllwild, until the end of our vacation on Labor Day. In between those bookended vacations, she was there for me on my lunch breaks and during my virtually non-existent evenings.

Generally, the magic of knitting lace reveals itself during final blocking. However, for Seraphim it was the moment I took her out of her Euculan bath. I can't even put the way it felt into words. The closest thing I can come to is that felt the way I always hoped the clouds might feel. I was so shocked, there *may or may not* have been a vocalized response that went along with it. I say "vocalized" because it was definitely more "sounds" than "words". In fact, Jenny even came into the bathroom to see what the heck was going on.

However, my amusement with Seraphim didn't stop there. Upon taking out the blocking pins, she revealed her true beauty. Miriam, this was truly an inspired design. I love the combination of it's simplicity and ornate details. I feel like a princess when I have her on and I love the feel of the Koigu when it is draped over my arms. There is nothing I don't like about this shawl.

(BTW: These are what B calls 'dainty' hands, which I was instructed to make for this photo.)

As for the details, I knit this Seraphim on size 5 needles using approximately 900 yards of Koigu KPPPM in the speckled colorway #716. When I purchased this yarn, I went back and forth with how many hanks to get and even sought Mim's advice. 5 would make me 25 yards short of the maximum yardage requirement. Surely 5 would be enough, right? It seemed silly to buy an entire 6th hank for 25 yards. In the end, I did because I knew I could bring it back if I didn't need it. However, as I got to the second to last row of the last chart and held the end of the 5th ball in my hand, I was really glad that 6th hank was there to dip into.

I was also very pleasantly surprised with the way this colorway knit up. I am generally not drawn to the speckled KPPPMs the way I am to the standard variegated colorways. However, this one spoke to me and I am truly delighted with the way the color laid itself out, very even and very un-speckled in my opinion.

All in all, Seraphim may be my most favorite thing I have made. And I highly recommend using a luxury yarn/fiber for this knit...even if you have to go to the gym 12 weeks in a row to earn it!