Japanese Crocheted Crescent Moon Shawl

This was the first shawl pattern I ever wanted to make. I first spotted it on Ravelry over a year ago, however you had to buy a book to get the pattern, and not only was the book only available in Japanese, it never seemed to be in stock whenever I checked.

In the meantime I crocheted a few other shawls and scarves and got better at following designs. Then one day I was browsing Pomadour24's Etsy shop and found the book in stock. I decided to go for it, and while I was at it I bought some Noro wool too. In for a penny, in for a pound...

Still I took my time before starting. I'd never followed just a chart before so found this site to be extremely helpful in deciphering Japanese crochet symbols. I also checked Ravelry for other people's notes and found these forum posts useful too.

At this stage all the rows are complete with just the edging to do. Up to this point I really enjoyed making the shawl. I have to confess to finding the edging a little fiddly and time consuming, but I persevered...

...the crocheting is finished! However, the shawl needs blocked as the little clover edging motifs are all curly. It looks nice on the chair (better than it does on me!)

Another photo of it before blocking (just incase the blocking went horribly wrong!). I hand washed the shawl then gently squeezed it dry and pinned it on some foam play blocks to dry in the sun.

Anyone else see a chicken here?

Hoping it doesn't rain...

Uh oh.

It does rain! Fortunately I spot it straight away and manage to everything in in one piece before it all gets wet. I dig out the hairdryer to quickly finish the drying process before the children become too interested.

A late night shot on a hanger, the clover edging is hanging much better now.

I omitted the picot row as this was all the wool that was left.

Today I took some more photos of it in the garden.

And the final verdict? Well, I actually think I liked it best at the stage it was at before adding the clover edging (though I'm not removing it now!). I'll know better once it's cold enough to wear it though, so we'll see...