10-06-2017

Found out I’d made a huge mistake and didn’t set a lifeline. I sewed in a new lifeline (ARGH) and tore everything back (ARGH ARGH) and reknitted it again. Now I’ve cleaned it up and am back to smooth knitting again. LIFELINES. USE EM.

08-31-2019

Final thoughts, because oh boy, do I have them:

I started this with the first draft of the pattern, without the (3up arrow, 3down arrow) abbreviations that came later. I would not have been able to complete this shawl if that revision had not been made, I got lost so much in the beginning. Learning and completing the up and down motifs were particularly difficult for me as cotton doesn’t stretch as much as wool, and these stitches NEED to have that stretch in places. Slow going, and my hands needed breaks if I did more than three rows a day. So a lot of time and training went into this.

That said, it’s the first piece of knitted lace that I’ve done that needs minimal blocking, because of the recursive stacking of stitches. It’s the closest thing to the WYSIWYG of crochet lace I’ve ever encountered. So that’s pretty rewarding. No need to wait for a wash and pinning to see the pretty pattern.

Even with the stitches staying more or less in place, I was really worried that the cotton yarn would stretch out after washing, but fortunately the acrylic in it kept it looking good. I would NOT recommend a 100% plant fiber yarn for this pattern, if you want to give it a whirl. Use a cotton/artificial blend or expect REALLY sore hands and messy loops. This yarn was bought five years ago, so please check more recent reviews of Comfy’s quality if you want to try it with this yarn yourself. The older stuff doesn’t pill too badly but I can’t confidently say the same for anything new.

I knit much of this while listening to classical music. Even a moment’s distraction, like thinking about a line in a podcast or audio book, would cause me to lose count and get lost. Every inch of this shawl is patience and concentration.