My first lace project. Made for my daughter’s 13th birthday.

Decided trying to knit a swatch for gauge was pretty much nil. I couldn’t even tell what was going on with the stitches.

Size 3 seems good….I knit kind of loose and size 4 is the “standard”. Looks OK. Is more fun to knit now that I’m 25 rows or so in. I can actually see a pattern and it’s pretty.

6/3: This is fun to knit, also a little frustrating. Had to frog a bit. Pain. In. The. Ass.

Printed off a “mileage sheet” for stitch counts on each row of the budding lace repeat from another raveler. The woman is a genious. I can’t spell today.

6/11: Not sure if this will be done in time. I’m only on the 6th budding lace repeat….there’s 14 of them.

6/24: Not done on time. But I’m on the 11th pattern repeat. Seeing a light at the end of the tunnel.

Also working on UFO’s to get down to just having this to do. Then I will try and decide if I’d like to be UFO free or not.

7/9: Getting there. On the 13th pattern repeat of the budding lace. Then just 2 more charts and I’m done. I can’t wait to block this.

I’m also trying VERY HARD not to cast-on another project until this one is finished. Next project is the Horcrux Socks for Wobbs. :)

7/21: Budding lace repeat never ends. Of course it would if I could find time to knit.

8/10: Only one repeat left….4 rows to be exact and then I can start the next “stage”. If I could find more time that would be great….but we are moving this weekend 8/15. I should be packing.

9/17: Have not touched this since I started Wobbs socks. It’s just not interesting. I will eventually finish it. However, I don’t see myself starting any other lace projects any time soon…..unless I knit it in a little heavier weight yarn where I can easily see the stitch definition. I miss being able to see that.

I don’t want this to be a UFO.

11/1: I actually picked this up yesterday and worked on it for a while. It’s not as bad as I remember. I hate knitting the nupps. It’s so easy to miss one of the 5 loops on the purl side.

11/18: Still working on this. Now that I am 13 rows into the Lilly of the Valley Border - I have the “pattern” memorized. It’s cute. I am motivated to complete this project. I have 2 Lilly of the Valley charts left and then the border charts & I’m done.

I can’t wait to block it. I am excited about the “magic” of blocking with lace.

8/1: Trying to get my WIP done…..did 4 rows on this today. Almost done with the Lily of the Valley Chart, and then onto border chart.

8/19: Finished this in the middle of the night right after I got news that my brother was in the hospital. Amazing how stress can get you through those last 5 rows. Now blocking. Pics to come.

I can’t believe I actually finished it!!

8/20: Pics loaded. Thanks to my 3 year old shawl model. :)

Final thoughts: It is very pretty, decorative. But in the future I think I will knit shawls in a heavier weight yarn, fingering or DK/sport (even a worsted). It isn’t very substantial and I feel like I might break it. I haven’t had a chance to give it to Summer yet…..we get her back on Monday. Looking forward to seeing what she thinks.

I am very happy to have finished it and to know that I have the skill to accomplish something this intricate. The blocking process was, um, interesting. Probably made more so by my 9 months pregnant self sitting on the floor with my kids’ play mats, trying to keep them off, while I measured and pinned.

I can’t say for sure that I will knit with lace weight yarn again…..but I will probably knit another shawl at some point.