Vintage Shawl Redux

One of my crochet students asked if I could recreate a shawl her mother had made 40-50 years ago. The poor thing - the shawl, not the student - was showing its age; the acrylic yarn was disintegrating and the garment was falling apart. This would have been a fairly simple project except for the large holes throughout the fabric; they made counting stitches and recognizing patterns a challenge. I finished the shawl, and wrote up the pattern (available here as soon as I proof it one more time), just before we left for San Diego. The top section is worked in a circle, then folded in half to form a half-moon. The lace edging is worked through both pieces of fabric. It starts the same width as the top but increases rapidly so it folds and swirls around the bottom. The folded section makes this shawl warmer across the shoulders and the swirly edge gives it a graceful, feminine feel - the best of all worlds. The edging also makes it a pain interesting to block. I finally decided to block the half-moon section first; once that had dried, I pinned out the swirls in stages. It wasn't difficult but it was time consuming.
I worked this in super soft fingering-weight alpaca with an "I" hook but it could be done in almost any weight yarn and corresponding crochet hook. If I made this again I think I'd use a DK weight yarn, or increase the number of rounds so the shawl was longer and wider. This one is a little small for my tastes but it's the same size as the original, which was my goal.

Five-month-old Leia helped me take photos.

Hope my student is as pleased with the results as I am.