Fine Lace

My very first fine lace project was exciting and frustrating all at the same time.  

I love bulky knits and many of my projects include using 2 strands of yarn together to bulk them up even more.  But I also love, admire and drool over fine lace.

I have just started knitting lace with fingering weight yarn for a little over a year, so I just became comfortable working with fingering weight yarn.  So naturally the next step is to work with an even finer yarn. I kept eyeing the cobweb yarn at my local yarn shop, but something in the back of my mind kept telling my I wasn't quite ready for that yet. 

After my dear friend April gave me a ball of Yarn Place Gentle in an absolutely gorgous cranberry red, I couldn't stop thinking about what I would knit with this wonderful yarn.  I finally decided to try a wrap pattern in Victorian Lace Today, which would also by my very first project with knitting on the edge. 

I faced my inner fears and cast on the center panel that seemed to go rather smoothly. Although, I did need to pay very close attention to ensure I grabbed the actual stitch on the needle rather than the loop below. (I later realized that the wooden needles were just too blunt to grab that tiny stitch and I have since moved on to super pointy Addi Turbo Lace needles)

My problems really came in to play when I started knitting the edging. I ended up modifying the edging pattern after several (about 50) false starts. I even heard myself say that I would never do this again during certain trying moments, but I was determined to master the process.

I did complete my project and love, love, love the lighter than air feel of this shawl. There is a couple battle scars along the edge but I do feel quite accomplished that I got it done.

And even though I had stated several times that I wouldn't ever do this again, I have already cast on my next wrap in a lovely green wool/silk.  This one is in lace weight yarn, which believe it or not feels like bulky after working with the cobweb weight.

I will definately do another in cobweb as the end result is so stunning.