Happy Birthday Canada

I know, I am a bit early with my birthday wishes for Canada, but I just finished my Maple Leaf Shawl.

Knit in   Briggs & Little Sport weight in a bright red colour, what could be more perfect for my 'Canada 150' project than a shawl in the shape of the iconic Maple Leaf, knit in Mountie Scarlet, with yarn produced at the Canada's oldest  mill?

Hopefully, our cool spring weather will be with us still on July 1st and I will be able to wear my shawl to show off my true north Canadian spirit.

Pattern: Maple Leaf Shawl
Needles: 5.5mm
Yarn:  Briggs & Little Sport weight.  Colour -  Scarlet
Mods:  None.  The pattern tells the knitter to pick their favourite edge stitch and use it whenever the pattern says ES (Edge stitch). I chose to slip the first stitch of every row.  That produced a very nice chain effect along all the points.

After knitting, I soaked the shawl in Eucolan then tossed it in the dryer for 7 minutes. Thanks B&L for your tough yarn that does not exhibit  extreme felting properties.  The dryer simply tightened up the stitches so they are all neat and tidy.  To finish the drying, I pinned the shawl to the blocking board, paying particular attention to all the points.

They now sit very sharply - just the look I wanted.

This is not a shawl I see myself wearing much, but I am glad I knit it.  It was fun to do and will make a  yearly appearance on Canada Day.