Finito

I cast on this pink stole last August on my trip to visit my friend Chris. For 6 months (to the day) it was my quiet companion, although I finished a few small projects in the meantime -- dishcloths, hats, booties. It languished in the closet for 4 more months, waiting for me to graft up the hem and block it. (The grafting had two false starts before I was satisfied. That's why it took 4 months.) 85 hours and 79,810 stitches later (more or less), here is my Pink Alpaca Breast Cancer Shawl:

Cass paid me the ultimate teen age compliment, saying simply, "It's pretty."

Last June, while happily knitting away on baby booties at Grand Assembly with Cass, the idea percolated that if I was going to knit for charity at her Rainbow functions, I might kill two birds with one stone and knit for a Rainbow charity. This year's charity for Virginia is the Susan G. Komen Foundation. My shawl will be auctioned off at Grand Assembly next weekend (finished with a week to spare), and the money raised will be donated for breast cancer research.

I have to confess. Even though it's pink (which I enjoy working with but not wearing) I've grown rather attached to it. I may bid on it. I also have to admit that when I was about half-way through I figured out exactly why I would knit 79,810 stitches. Each one of them is a silent prayer of thankfulness & hopefulness. I don't have to search far (1 in 5 women) to hear breast cancer stories.

And just to show it's versatility, here's Cass doing a take on her favorite super hero:

She really wants to see the new Superman movie in Imax.

( "Lace Dream" designed by Eugen Beugler, from Knitter's Magazine #42, in "Peppermint" Alpaca Cloud from KnitPicks, slightly modified [1 repeat wider, 1 repeat shorter] and blocked to 23" x 70")