tried the ‘simple ring’ cast on, then Emily Ocker’s, then a number of other versions on youtube, but no dice. I almost understood the version here, but it finally clicked when I consulted the oracle TechKnitter - her note about how to get an odd number caston was especially helpful!

I managed to go awry somewhere on the second half of the Madeira lace pattern, getting my leaves off-kilter. I ripped back to the yo/ssk row in the middle of the Madeira, then reknit. I ended up off in the same way, so I fudge the rest of that set of leaves… It ended up noticeably different than the sample, and kind of looks like small fish to me, but I like it, so I kept it. :)

The only other mod I made was to skip the 14 rows with the size 10.5 needles, as I had only 2 skeins of yarn. It’s a good thing I did, too, since I ended up with a scant 2 yards left after the bindoff! This also makes the mesh/net section more in proportion with the rest of the sections of the shawl, in my opinion. Oh, and I did the final increase row and bindoff with the 10.5, instead of 11.

I’ve pretty much decided NOT to dye this shawl. At least, I’ll leave it undyed for a while. If I get inspired at some point down the road, I figure I can always dye it then, but for now I like the natural cream color of it.

photo is unblocked, will upload blocked pics ASAP!