I finished my Olympic Affection late last month just in time to take it with me to Salt Lake. We headed up into the Wasatch mountains one day and I brought it along, both for warmth on a cool, damp autumn day high above sea level and to capture a few shots for posterity.

We drove up amidst fiery scrub oaks and golden aspens, through a bit of sun and a smidgen of a shower until we paused in Sundance before a wooden gate just begging to be a photo backdrop. We disregarded the no trespassing sign (our apologies, Mr. Redford) and popped out of the car and into the field for a few pictures:

I have worn the shawl nearly every day now since its completion. It ended up being less deep that I’d expected (I never did check the row gauge), so I can wear it like this or wrapped a few more times around my neck in a more scarf-like fashion.

I know some of you liked the more calming colors of the original Color Affection, but I wanted vibrant and eye-popping and the colors of the yarn I ultimately settled on (after much assistance from Rudi, Mum, and two Connecticut yarn store folk) make me so happy I can’t help but smile when I look at it, whether it’s in pictures, wrapped around me, or shoved in my bag (as it is during the warmer hours of the day).

The purple yarn is Cascade Yarns Heritage Silk (a merino-silk blend) in what some stores term Plum (5633), the red is Dye Dream Dream Socks (a merino-nylon blend) in Cranberry, and the orange is String Theory Hand-Dyed Caper Sock (a merino-cashmere-nylon blend) in Marmalade. The orange, which has hints of purple and red in it without ever fully switching colors, was a last-minute substitution after I discovered the hot pink I’d originally wanted to use shot the color combination over into Sunday funnies hues. The other colors came out of my stash, but the String Theory was purchased at Creative Fibers in Connecticut specifically for the shawl.

I knit most of it on a 4mm needle, but cast on and bound off with larger sizes to keep it stretchy. I also switched the bind-off, given my earlier trouble keeping things stretchy, to a yarn-over bind-off. I blocked it minimally depthwise (I’d heard warnings not to overstretch the garter stitch) and more severely along the edges.

And, since I failed to give you a laid-out finished shot, you get one on the blocking mat, which measures 5’x3′ to give you some perspective:

I love it and would definitely make another one. Short of remembering to keep the floats looser along the edge than seemed wise at the time, it was a very simple pattern and makes a lovely addition to my wardrobe.