FO: Memories of Vieques

During Spring break I went on a wonderful trip to Puerto Rico with my boyfriend. We lounged on the beach, wandered around a colonial city (San Juan), went to the Bacardi factory, and went to the island of Vieques, which was probably the coolest place in the world. First of all, it’s not overly-touristy like most island beaches. The water is really clear, the people are really cool and there aren’t a lot of people around to mess up your views of nature. To make matters even better, there’s a bio-luminescent bay. Yes. A bay that glows. What makes it even cooler than that is that it only glows the brightest at night when you move the water. During the day time or a full moon you can’t see it because the other nights are brighter, but Dick and I went during a new moon. We were in kayaks on the way out during the sunset. I was disappointed because it wasn’t glowing, but as soon as I jumped in the water  noticed it. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect.  We jumped in the water, and everywhere we moved the water glowed around us like a halo. It was the coolest thing I have ever seen. If you vibrated your arm, it looked like you were wearing clothes made of stars. When we got back in the kayaks to go back, every stroke of the oar made the water glow, the front of the boat’s wake glowed. If you stayed perfectly still, the water would glow intermittently in tiny flashes like microscopic fireflies (which is basically what it was.) Needless to say, it was magical. I needed something to remember it. So comes this shawl:

Pattern: Entomology by Laura Nelkin

Needles: Size 7

Yarn: My handspun

Modifications: I added an extra pattern repeat at the end because I still had enough yarn.

I couldn’t be happier with the way this shawl turned out. Absolutely everything about it is exactly what I had hoped for. The colors in the yarn reflect the varying colors of the sea, the lace pattern makes the colors form waves. The beads flash light like the organisms from the bay. When I go back to Puerto Rico, I will most assuredly bring this shawl with me to warm myself against the cool breezes that blow over the water.

I blocked the top edging in an unconventional way, but I really like the way it turned out because it makes it look somewhat like beaded fringe. I threaded a DK weight cotton yarn through the edge yarn overs (the top edging has a yarn over at the very edge of every stitch) and blocked by pulling the yarn tight and securing it with pins. This pulled the beads farther out from the body of the shawl. It looks awesome.

I will give y’all one more picture, then call it a day.