One down, three to go

So I finished side panel one. Here’s the whole thing:

And a close up section:

I’m not going to bother blocking until I’ve got all four finished so I can be sure they match up correctly to the main panel. So in the meantime the panel is waiting quietly in the closet for the other three to join it. Considering the baby is now due in exactly one week, I’ve realized that the shawl will not be done in time. So, I made a hat:

I have to say, I’m glad I made it, but I’m not super excited about this hat, mostly because of the yarn. It is knit in “Crayon” from Knitpicks on size five needles. The cotton is very soft and feels great, which is why I chose to use it, but wasn’t great to knit with. I’m pretty picky when it comes to knitting with cotton. If I have metal needles I’m usually fine, but I only had size 5 DPN’s in Brittney needles, which are the stickiest I have. So, it was slow going and not the greatest item I’ve ever made, but the baby will have something handknit by me to go home in even if it is not the shawl. It actually cracks me up when I thought I would have managed to complete the entire shawl and a sweater, matching hat and booties in time. Of course, it would help if I could manage to stay awake past 9:00 at night (tonight is an exception) but you must be able to tell I’m tired by my inability to end this post. So I’ll leave it here, happy that I got a hat finished and off to bed I go!