Mother-In-Law's Mother's Day Gift

I've been off the radar for a bit, kind of lost my crafting mojo for a while there!
This is not really project number 5, I've done little bits and pieces here and there; like making mother's day cards for my mum and mum-in-law.  I made them with Kaisercraft Sweet Nothings and their paper flowers and they turned out great!  Unfortunately I didn't take photos, even though I thought about it!  D'oh!
Anyway, I was a bit stumped as to what to get mother-in-law for Mother's Day.  Whilst perusing Ravelry, I found a shawl pattern I really like...  It's called "French Blue Shawl" by Cristina Mershon who designs the most gorgeous things.
Here is the shawl I made.  The stitches are really simple, but I think the finished result looks far more complex than it really is! I used a cotton yarn so it's nice as a cover-up for spring or summer...

Being blocked...  Pinned out on a towel on the floor and steam  ironed...

Draped over a chair....

I totally love the finished result!  It's really pretty :-)  Took a lot longer than I expected though! It's going to be a belated Mother's Day present unfortunately.
I might even do the pattern again one day!  Hope MIL likes it :-)

My Ravelry project contains all the yarn details and other stuff: http://www.ravelry.com/projects/MarysiaBC/french-blue-shawl

You can buy the pattern book for this project here:

"Starry Night" Crochet Scarf for Natalie's Birthday

It's my dear friend Natalie's birthday today.  I wanted to make her something but didn't know what.  I came across a lovely pattern in a book I have called Crochet so Fine.  (Details of the pattern and project can be found on my Ravelry project.)

If anyone can tell me why my photos keep coming out sideways, I'll be eternally grateful!

I liked the stars pattern as it's not too boho/girlie for Natalie.  She only ever wears black so I had a slight challenge finding a suitable yarn.  I ended up choosing a lovely soft 4-ply alpaca.  It's made the scarf really airy and light!  It took me ages to make all those stars!  Because the yarn is so soft, the scarf came out all scrunchy when it was finished, so it needed some proper wet blocking.

Natalie's scarf being blocked on a towel on the livingroom floor.

I wet blocked it, and then gave it a good steam after tucking in all the tails (two per star!) and arranging all the stitches neatly.
I am very pleased with the finished item!  It took me two days because I'm slow, but it was worth it.  I really hope Natalie loves this half as much as I loved making it!

The book from which this pattern comes: