04/10
I’m excited about starting this shawl. I’m a big fan of Mario’s designs and he’s been deemed as my lace guru. I’ve admired the beauty of this pattern since the very first time I saw it!

5/10
My beautifully sweet chihuahua, Suki, decided the lacy, alpaca WIP would be perfect as bedding for an afternoon nap. Unfortunately, during her preparatory revolutionary jaunts her paws got entangled in the lace. The more she struggled to get loose the more she became entangled and was caught running down the hall (WIP still attached) fleeing from the “green monster” trailing her now in a horrendous state of knots, dropped stitches and unescapable malice! Needless to say, I had to frog the thing after a few glasses of Chilean Merlot
(did I mention I was on the second to last chart?).

10/12/10
So after having this project in hiatus for months in attempts to work through my PTSD, I pulled out the lace weight and resumed knitting with a glass of wine and my therapist’s cell number written atop the pattern. Surprisingly, it didn’t take as long as I thought it would to get back in the “mindset” of the pattern/lace, as it were, in spite of what we now refer to in this house as the “I-will-never-use-Daddy’s-lace-knitting-as-a-bed-ever-again-if-I-don’t-want-to-be-put-down” incident (just kidding).

10/13/10
On 4th chart, row 138. Whew-it’s going pretty well so far. Why I chose this as my first lace project is beyond me. I have to be a sadist on some level--especially since I’ve decided to keep going and not stop at the smaller shawl diameter! I would write more, but I’m famished and think I need to go fix myself a bowl of scotch!

10/14/10
Just completed row 145 on chart 4. Gaining a little confidence and crying hysterically much less often, though the rocking hasn’t seemed to subside yet.

10/16/10
Only one more round to go on the 4th chart! They say when I block this thing I will be amazed at the magic of it’s metamorphosis. I sure as hell hope so, cause right now the shawl looks like a big ‘o heap of hot mess!

10/17/10
Today, tragedy struck after attempts to fix a whopping mistake about 12 rows down! It was like quick sand--the more I attempted to fix, the worst it got! Luckily my sweet neighbor and knitting goddess, Gladys, came to my rescue and saved me from being institutionalized! I now must find a black board to write “I WILL USE LIFELINES” 100 times before Gladys fetches the paddle!

10/23/10
FINISHED!!! ~doing my happy dance~ I’m SO stoked! It feels like Christmas morning! This bugger took me over 2 hours to cast off. I will now drape it over the back of the sofa and stare at it for an hour or so and bask in the glory. Now to block and photograph. My Grandmother is gonna love it!

10/25/10
The shawl is now blocking (top 2 photos) on my parent’s guest room bed. I snapped a couple of shots pre-blocking (bottom 2 photos). My mother is so lusting after this shawl and I instructed her to stay out of the room so her slobbering doesn’t impede the drying process! Hmmm…maybe I should have blocked it elsewhere…LOL, but my extra bed is only a double and this puppy measured out to approximately 62” in diameter. I blocked it with only moderate tension. It will be delivered to Hazel on Saturday. I will take more photos with her wearing it at that time.