3/12 - I finally had the time to start this shawl today for the Paranoid Post-Mortem knit-along. This is my first ever knit-along! The crochet cast-on intimidated me, mostly because I couldn’t visualize how it would work. It turned out beautifully though, and I am well on my way. I’m halfway through the repeats for chart 2 already - mostly because I’m home sick on the couch today. I watched “Gone With the Wind” today for the first time, and spent time alternately hating on the characters and loving on this pattern. I’m free-skeining - another first - and it’s going along beautifully. I love the feel of this silk on my neck, and I was so worried about re-balling it and having it fill up with knots again!

3/28/09 - I actually cast off for this project 4 nights ago, but I’ve just been too busy and preoccupied to weave in the ends and block it. I just came in from the porch, where it’s drying in the sunlight and looking gorgeous. This was an incredibly simple pattern, and I’m happy that I tackled this before really getting into other, bigger, harder lace projects. The shawl is incredibly small - I could tell it was small but I wasn’t expecting it to be that tiny. However, I love it. It’s gorgeous, and it was a perfect project for my Handmaiden! I have about 100 or so yards of that left, which is nice; it’s a good yarn to work with.

I will, however, never free-skein laceweight again. About 2 days after I had started, that became a real issue because every time I would take the skein off from my neck, a few strands would get misplaced which caused a huge tangle that I then had to pass the yarn through when I needed more. I chose to let it stay tangled and unwork the knot after I had cast off. Maybe with a heavier yarn with less yardage, but never again with lace!

First KAL - done!