Finally! Finally! Finally! I have finished my parasol! This is a project that has been started four times and ripped thrice. I started the first one in May last year, didn't like that, tried another pattern, didn't like that either, ripped again, and so on until I found the pattern Vortex Shawl on Ravelry.
Half way through I decided I wanted spikes, not flat edges, so after knitting some more, I started to decrease away the solid ground while adding a simple lace between the points. The spikes were supposed to come to a point at the attachment nibs, but I'd overestimated how far down they'd reach.
The beauty of the lace was that I could extend it until it was the right size and it would still look right. So I knitted, and tried it on (too small), and knitted, and tried it on (too small), and knitted until I got sick of it and decided that it was going to fit, dammit!
It did fit and I was very happy until I had finished it off, attached the nibs, and washed it and it grew. Gah! I'd been so afraid that it was too short that I'd forgotten the tendency of knits to grow when blocked. It had stretched so much that some of the nibs were falling off the ribs, it was that bad.
After briefly considering washing it in a washing machine and tossing it into a hot dryer, I decided against that. To do that I would have to remove the nibs and once they are off, I might as well rip out those six rounds. So I put in a lifeline and ripped away.
Then I finished it with crochet (again), sewed on the nibs (again), sewed in the ends (again), and stretched it on, and it fit! Yay! I could probably have taken off one or more rounds to make it even tighter, but I really didn't want to finish it for the third time!
After that I only needed to put the finishing touches on. Like tacking the cover to the ribs, making sure I'd darned in all ends, evening out a patch of tighter stitches, putting on the cap, and removing most of the cat hair.
I am very happy with how it turned out with the spikes, the lace, and the spiral. It does look suspiciously see-through, but it was blocking direct sunlight beautifully when I took it out for a test run and photo shoot. It also let all the wind through no matter which direction it was blowing from, and that was the reason why I embarked on this insane journey to begin with.
It is finished! Yay!