Now, does this look like anything to you people?
Seriously, take a close look:
Yeah, I don't think so either and it's starting to scare me!
I'm told that this is the way with lace. It looks like a jumbled mess until you block it. But, I've seen a few WIPs that actually DO at least resemble what the final product should look like and this worries me. Being my first foray into lace, how do I know whether this little shawl is on the right track?
I guess that's all part of the fun, right? RIGHT?!
Anyway, this is my attempt to finally tackle that Misti Alpaca laceweight I purchased a while back. It was so hot on Sunday and I couldn't knit any of my WIPs due to size and general heat-inducing features, so I decided to cast on for the Lace Leaf Shawl from Fiber Trends.
I was immediately drawn to this pattern before I knew it was Estonian. Those Estonians! I just love their textile motiffs!
So, past attempts at lace had proven less than fruitful and MORE than frustrating. I literally threw the needles onto my couch the last time and just packed the Misti Alpaca away, never wanting to lay eyes on it again. However, since I'm falling in love with all of these lace patterns I see floating around lately, I had to give it another try. But this time, I had a plan...
After giving it much thought and coming to the conclusion that the reason I was having difficulty had to do with not being able to control tension or see the actual stitches I was producing -- making it extremely difficult to tink back when I needed. I figured it had to do with weight.
So, I came up with the idea of placing some of those nifty Staples silver clips on the ends as I worked the first few repeats in order to anchor the piece.
Success!
I also purchased some INOX needles which have a slightly sharper tip and which aren't as slippery as Addis but not as annoying as wood.
So far so good.
I know I've made at least one little boo-boo already. I mean, I don't know for sure (otherwise I'd rip it back), I just FEEL it. So it does make me nervous that I can't actually see the design yet.
But, I like living on the knitting edge! So I'll knit on. Hehehe.
