My Petroglyphs shawl ruined!

Well, as luck would have it, I RUINED one of the most beautiful shawls I ever made! It was another of Renee Leverington's Mystery Shawls, MS17 - Petroglyphs. I am so upset at myself! I was soaking the shawl and couldn’t believe how much dye was coming out of it. So I kept soaking and rinsing and squeezing and re-soaking all day long. Finally, the last time I went up to rinse it yet again (in the evening), I noticed how weird the shawl felt. When I looked at it, I saw that it had felted!!!! I couldn’t believe it! I guess I must have “squeezed” it a few times too many. I didn’t wring it, I know that, and didn't use warm or hot water, but I guess the constant squeezing and soaking did it in. Lesson learned! But why did it have to be on one of the prettiest shawls I ever made?!


I was ready to just throw the whole thing away, but I decided to try to block it despite the felting. I had to pull the shawl apart in several spots that had felted together, especially along the neck edge, where the “eyelet” border is. I couldn’t even see the eyelets! But eventually I got that edge all pulled out and got the shawl pinned down. But the beauty of my work is gone. You can see that it’s felted: there’s no definition of stitches and the shawl itself is WAY smaller (and denser) than it should be, more like a shawlette now. Normally, these shawls are about 72” x 36”. This one is about 60” x 27”. And it just doesn’t have the beautiful delicacy that laceweight shawls have. I really loved this shawl and especially loved the yarn-bead combination that I used (Cinnabar Zephyr with metallic gold beads). I may make it again in the future just because I loved the bead pattern in it. I’m just not sure. All I know is I am devastated about it.

Anyone else ever had a yarn where the dye just wouldn’t stop coming out?