[knitting] Rumpelstiltskin Shawl

My finished Rumpelstiltskin Shawl:

Pattern: Rumpelstiltskin by Christin Kimsey (rav link)

Yarn: Universal Yarn Renew Wool (discontinued) for the main body; Plymouth Galway for the border.

Needles: US 9 (5.5 mm)

I did 9 complete pattern repeats with 3 balls of the green Renew Wool. And I feel very lucky I was able to do that with only a few yards of yarn leftover... but what to do about the border? I have lots of misc worsted weight wool in my stash but should I do a solid color border? Stripes? What kind of stripes? I pulled some colors that I liked with the green:

I had a full ball of navy blue, most of a ball of brick red and about a quarter of a ball of gold. My border would be garter stitch in the following sequence:

2 garter rows- navy blue 

1 garter row - gold 

2 garter rows- navy blue 

3 garter rows - brick 

2 garter rows- navy blue 

1 garter row - gold 

2 garter rows - navy blue

Here's the immense shawl blocking- and I still wasn't sure how I liked the border:

But it has grown on me- I do like it very much now. 

The only drawback is that the border is a bit heavy. The main body is light and lacy; the 24 rows of worsted knitting at the bottom may pull down the shawl over time. If I were to do this again, I might not make the border as wide or use a lighter weight yarn.

It's huge and cosy- just right for snuggling into when the house is cold. Now that the weather is warming, though, I think this will be tucked away until next fall. It will be a nice surprise when I remember and pull it out.