Used larger needle for CO, then switched to 4 mm instead of 4.5 mm because Manos Lace is skinnier than Malabrigo Lace and I was finding the lace pattern a bit too open/less crisp with 4.5 mm needle.

To make it easier to count and re-count stitches when casting on, I placed a marker every 50 stitches to break them down into more manageable chunks.

Also, to speed up beading and reduce interruptions I placed 4-5 beads at a time on the crochet hook (and kept the hook upright wedging it between my legs, so the beads wouldn’t fall off!). It also helps to keep the beads in a small bowl instead of in their wee plastic bag.

And as with previous Annis and Abrazo, I ended with an eyelet row (yo, K2tog) to help prevent curling of the top edge.

With the previous Susanna IC’s patterns (Annis and Abrazo) I found I could not get deep enough points when blocking, so hopefully using a larger needle for CO will help this time, let’s see.

Added 1 vertical pattern repeat to make up in height for the slightly smaller needle. I was also temped to add 2 horizontal repeats, but I was worried I might run out of yarn.

The pattern is very pretty and addictive, and easy to memorise. The yarn is wonderfully silky.

I love Susanna IC’s crescent shapes and short rows constructions!

7/05/2011 - now blocking - somehow I can never manage to get nice pointy points when I block, but I think this time it worked better than with Annis and Abrazo, so using a much larger needle for casting on was a good idea!