You'll hear it time and again... blocking lace is pure magic. A (maybe) pretty tangle of color becomes a defined work, holding it's own shape through the process of some strange alchemy of water and wool and a whole lot of pins.
A triangular shawl is an odd sort of torture. Casting on, there are only a few stitches. The first few rows hum by, the pattern starting to take shape and you can happily see the finish line easily in sight. That finish line somehow retreats further and further into the distance with each row, with each measly little stitch added. Just two stitches. Every other row. Wait... now that's 24 stitches more per pattern repeat? And I have to do this six times (or ten for the whole shawl)?? 'Scuse me while I get out my calculator... ack!
And yet somehow, I made it to then end--and then had to do an I-cord bind-off! Well, that at least went faster than I thought it would and gives a very lovely edge.
The Rare Gems colorway I picked up at Black Sheep Gathering merged with the Diamond Fantasy pattern perfectly. It is a deep, dark black with deep dark purple over most of its length, but here and there a spark of coral-pink or white peeks through. Part of me really wanted to see it as a sock, but I think in the end the shawl was the right choice.
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