Thursday, February 03, 2005
Lace = Fun! (or is that Frog?)
The Weekend knitting poncho/shawl is dry, so I am going to stitch it together this weekend. Finishing is better left for when I am awake and fresh--the weekend. Look for a completed object on Monday.On Wednesday evening I cast on my Flower Basket Shawl. This is my first full lace project, so I figured it would be tricky. I was right. I've ripped back a number of times. Thank goodness my alpaca seems really strong. It is going to need to be.
I am finally starting to understand the pattern and charts (my first chart!). I suppose this isn't difficult as lace goes, but it is still proving to be a challenge to me. Maureen suggested that I might want to include a lifeline as I go along. Oh how right she is. I initially thought I would run a lifeline at each pattern change (2 in total). I think now that I might need one every five rows or so... Argh. Regardless of the numerous froggings, I really am loving the lace. This could be addictive. It makes me pay attention and think, both pluses in my book.
So, I made it to about the 15th row or so and look:
I don't know if you can see it, but there are two places (one left, one right) that look sort of like knit balls. Somehow this doesn't seem correct. I must have slipped a stitch the wrong way or something. So, I will rip again. I want this to be correct even if I have to reknit it 30 times (don't want to jinx myself--I will probably have to rip that many and more).
In case you think I forgot my sweater, never fear. Here's the lovely Coquette front, almost ready for the v neck shaping:
And I did order the yarn for my daughter's requested dress. Plus I ordered yarn for this:
Anna loves putting a little ballerina costume on to dance, so I thought she would love this fairy dress. What were a couple more balls of yarn?
