Another person’s misfortune has become my good fortune.  I crocheted the Flying Fans Shawl (Ravelry) link as a gift, but made a big mistake in the pattern and didn’t realise until it was way too late to unpull and redo it.  It’s not good enough to give away as it is, but it’s fine for me to keep and wear!

I used a ball of Sullivans sock yarn (wool/nylon, around 4 ply). It’s very light and lacy and could be worn in a number of ways.

This was my travelling project for a number of weeks, so it was picked up and put down a lot. I suspect that’s where I started to miscount and mucked up the pattern. Can you see what I’ve done wrong?

Blocking made a difference to this shawl – it really opened up the spaces and emphasised the lacyness. I simply pinned it onto the mattress in the spare bedroom and measured it to ensure it was symmetrical.

It wasn’t a difficult pattern once I got into the groove – just a two row repeat – but I found the written instructions a bit difficult to follow and possibly inaccurate at first. There is now a diagram to go with it which really helps. I’ve wound up another skein of yarn to start on the shawl to replace it – you know how long some of my gifts take to get to the intended recipient!