Smoke tendrils

I felt like I've been on the brink of finishing this shawl for ages, and never really got to it. It's finally done! Remember this yarn? It's all grown up now:

The pattern is High Seas, by Kieran Foley, knit with my own handspun (light gray cashmere/mulberry silk), less than 800 yards on 3,75mm needles. The pattern has a pretty long repeat, 40 rows, and it's partially patterned on both sides. Something I learned the hard way: pay attention to the bolded lines dividing the different zones on the chart. I didn't, and ended up repeating the whole chart for the starting border, instead of only the 2 central squares that make the eyelets. When I was done I ended up frogging the starting border stitch by stitch, from the cast-on edge, and re-knitting it using the finishing border chart. Way too much work that could have been easily avoided.

Like the yarn, the shawl changes its colour depending on the light conditions. This pic, where it looks really gray, shows very well the white spots on the yarn, from where the silk got more concentrated:

In a different light it looks a little brown, or even a little golden:

Notice too how the cashmere gives the shawl a little, subtle halo, while the silk makes it look a little shiny, and the lots of twist on the yarn give a crispy stitch definition:

My favourite part is the little waves, though. I've already blocked the shawl, but they still have movement and texture.

And they make cute bumps on the purl side too.