Heat Wave and FO: Spring Affection

Minnesota has received a ridiculous heat wave in the last few days that has been more than a little unpleasant.  Since I had a few days off, I ran down to visit my Mom in the Twin Cities.  I can battle the heat in two ways- on the lake and in her air conditioned house!
We definitely did a lot of floating...

and when my brother and his girlfriend came out in the evening, got in some evening boat rides (and knitting time for me)!

The heat was good for one thing- blocking a rather large shawl.

After soaking, blocking in the sun took barely two hours.  My mom helped take pictures for my now-finished Spring Affection Shawl!

Pattern: Color Affection by Veera Valimaki
Yarn: MC- Plymouth Yarn Dye-for-Me Suri Alpaca Merino Glow in laceweight white with sparkles, C1- Juniper Moon Farm Findlay in Silver, and C2- Juniper Moon Farm Findlay in Mermaid!  I used at the very most perhaps half of each skein.

Needles: size 6
Mods: I didn't really make any true modifications on it, mostly just counting mistakes for picking up the three-color section stitches as I went, and having to pick up more about halfway through (oops).
Time: April 7th-July 15th, 2013

Worst Part: I thought that the miles and miles of stockinette was going to get to me, but it actually didn't.  I kind of wish I would have picked out a brighter color for contrasting color number one.  Also, I didn't get the stitches as loose as I should have switching back and forth between the three colors.  It wasn't a big deal until I was blocking- and even now it'll just be a little curlier, which I can deal with.

Best Part: Realizing just how large it was- first when I cast it off, and then when I was blocking it!  I generally don't work with lace weight too much- tiny tiny needles and stitches make for looooong projects, so a shawl in lace weight is kind of against what I would normally start.

When we were taking pictures, my Mom asked me if she could have one as well- she really liked the long crescent, and thought it would look great with some new sundresses she bought.

We picked out a shawl pattern, but I'm not sure if she realizes that it takes awhile to make one of these things.  More like a Christmas present, when she probably won't want it anymore...
I got back to Duluth a couple days ago, and have been trying not to melt on my living room floor.  Usually Duluth has so few days that hit 85 or hotter that it doesn't make sense to have an air conditioner, but the last few days have hit 90, making things mildly unbearable in my little 2nd floor apartment.

The kittens are spending almost their entire day napping to try and beat the heat, and I've been escaping to the grocery store's frozen foods aisle or a movie theater with Scott to cool down.  The heat makes knitting feel ridiculous, so I'm trying to get other projects done instead.  I do have a little something-something to show next time, though... :)