I may be a fool for choosing this as my first ever shawl.

15.02.15
I’ve just cast on for the third time. I had to rip out the first attempt because I’d misread the pattern and done all the decreases wrong. The second time I made a mistake in row 4 that I couldn’t fix. This is definitely my most challenging knit to date! Must make sure I use lifelines.

20.02.15
Getting the hang of the lace edging section now. I’m already dreading picking all those stitches up into the yarn overs. This is a seriously advanced pattern!

24.02.15
71 repeats is SO MANY

26.02.15
I’ve left lifelines every 10 repeats to help me to have a sense of whether I am picking up the right number of stitches in the yarnover selvedge. I should be picking up 40 stitches every 10 rows. Wish me luck!

27.02.15

Yay, I managed to pick up the stitches! There were a couple of hairy moments when I didn’t have quite the right number, which I think indicates that I made a couple of mistakes in the Lace Edging chart. But I soldiered on and ended up with the correct number. I hope that any little uneven bits won’t be noticeable on the finished item.

Just about to start the main Rock Island chart. I’ll be much happier when that part is finished.

08.03.15
Nightmare, I think I made a mistake in Row 5 as I was having problems in Row 6. Thanks god for lifelines. I’ve dropped back to Row 4 and will be VERY careful on Row 5 this time.

14.03.15
About to start Row 8, and I’m finally starting to get a sense of how the lace pattern works, which makes it much easier to notice and fix mistakes. I’m a third of the way through the Rock Island lace now. Need to get a move on if I want my OWL finished on time.

15.03.15
Fortunately the planes and trains I was on this weekend gave me some valuable knitting time. I am about to embark on Row 13 and I feel like the rows are starting to get shorter. I also feel more confident that I understand the lace so hopefully it won’t be a big mess!

17.03.15
On Row 17. So close to finishing the Rock Island lace, I want it to be done! I hope the garter section won’t take too long as I need to get this done by 31st March. I had some issues in Row 16 and was horrified thinking I would have to rip back to Row 14 but I think it’s okay and hopefully won’t cause any noticeable issues.

18.03.15
YES! I have finished the Rock Island lace. The fact that I will now be knitting endless garter means that I can take this project on public transport again. I will continue using regular lifelines as I have a feeling it will still be easy to drop stitches and make mistakes.

20.03.15
Wow, so much garter.

22.03.15
After the first few rows, which feel unbelievably long, the rows start to get shorter quite quickly. I have less than 70 stitches left on my needle!

23.03.15
Finished! I’m going to soak and block this on Wednesday, when I should have a couple of hours free to trying to figure out how to use blocking wires.

24.03.15
Curses, why didn’t I measure my foam mats before I spent two hours blocking this beast?? I’ve ordered more mats and I will attempt to re-block in a couple of weeks. I also realise now that I should have used a blocking wire on the top edge of the shawl. Think I won’t squeeze as much water out of my project next time as it felt almost dry before I had finished pinning it out.
Important craft lesson!