My Sunday Afternoon Project

Deirdre, at The Spinning Room Yarn Shop, called me the other day to see if I would come take a look at a lace, mohair shawl that needed some repair.  It was gorgeous ---- except for the holes that the new puppy chewed into it.  UGH!

I met the customer at the shop and she told me she had purchased the shawl St. Petersburg, Russia over 20 years ago, and that she really wants to be able to pass this shawl down to her children/grandchildren.  Talk about pressure!  She said she even had pictures of her now-grown grandchildren wrapped in the shawl when they were little.  Talk about sentimental pressure!

I have some experience in repairing, mostly my own things but nothing to this extent (you'll see what I mean soon...). Usually it's things that are unraveling, not chewed with lots of little ends hanging out. I did a little research online but didn't find too much to help me.  My basic plan of attack was to rescue dropping stitches weaving the loose ends through them and tying in the loose ends the best I could.

So, today I broke out the shawl and sat at the kitchen table for a few hours.  Here is what I did:

Hole #1 Before:

 Hole #1 After:

Can't really see it right?  I know!  My plan was working...

Hole #2 Before:

 Hole #2 After:

Can't really see it right?  I know! Double yay!

Big Gaping Hole #3 Before:

 Big Gaping Hole #3 After:

Can't really see it because the picture is so dim, right?  I know!... my camera was turned to manual (forgot about that - I had been experimenting with my new how-to-take-pictures book....)

Whole Shawl After (and for some reason, upside down):

That #3 was a doozy.  I'm pretty happy with the results of all three.  #3 is more noticeable than the others but it was such a gaping hole that I could only do so much.  Hopefully the customer will be happy!