My New Lace Shawl

100% finished!

I finally finished my lace shawl!!!

And to tell you the truth, I really didn’t think I would finish it in my lifetime!  The class was in 2007, I think, and it had been sitting in my closet until late last year.

I had always wanted to finish it, but I felt like I was in over my head.  This was my very first lace project ever, after all.

So I went back and found a beginner’s lace project, and worked it to give myself a bit more confidence.  I posted it here on my blog in April, my lace scarf.

Before blocking

And when I pulled this shawl project out of the closet and began working on it, it seemed so much easier this time.  The double decrease on row 9, the SK2P -- slip one, knit 2 together, pass the slipped stitch over -- didn’t even seem hard anymore.  (!)

But what really got the shawl finished, sadly, was my sick cat.  ♥

All that knitting soothed my nervous energy and gave me the feeling of accomplishment while caregiving for him month after month. 

And slowly I knitted repeat after repeat of my pattern:  36 repeats of 10 rows each, 67 stitches on each row, until I was finally done.

During blocking

I didn’t really like the border shown in the book, and didn’t know how I wanted to finish it.  So I put it on the back burner, and let it sit awhile until I had figured out what I wanted to do.

In the meantime, I had gotten a book out of the library on Estonian Lace.  And in the back were some pretty edge / border treatments. 

In Estonian lace, the children knit the borders, which are sewn onto the body of the lace later  (rather than knit on as you go).

I decided to go ahead and bind off, knit up a border, and if I liked it, I’d knit 2 of ‘em and sew them both on.  And that’s what I did.

After blocking, another view

Then there was there was “just” the matter of loose ends to be dealt with and the magic that is blocking.

And, voilà, the gorgeous drape of blocked lace. ♥

Detail of pattern and border

Now, if I could blink my stash into laceweight yarn,
I’d be set!  LOL

XOXO,

Lucky Dog

♥