Becky

When school is in session, I really can’t work on lace or cable patterns because most of my knitting time comes while I am reading so I can only do simple knitting.  I worked hard on my lace stole over winter break because I really wanted to wear it for a wedding in March, but once school started back up and I was only just over half way, I didn’t think I’d be able to get it done in time.  During February, I thought about it often, and once we decided to drive out to California for the week before the wedding, I decided I’d work on it as much as I could during that week and see what happened.  I brought my mom’s cashmere wrap with me as a backup, and that helped take the pressure off.

Daniel ended up doing more than half of the driving on the way out so that I could knit, knit, knit during the daylight hours.  I finished the 18 center repeats and by mid-week had finished the criss-cross part of the second half.  On Thursday and Friday, I finished up one side of the edging, but I knew there was no way I had time to do the second side.  Then, I had the sudden realization that no one would know if I didn’t add the edging to both sides.  Now, if I had been thinking clearly earlier in the week, I would have just left off the final edging on both sides and it would have been fine.  But since I had already done one side, there was no way I was ripping it out.  I realized, though, that no one would notice if one side had a pointy edging and the other didn’t.  And if they did, they probably would figure it was part of the design.

So, Friday night after the rehearsal dinner, I eagerly knit away finishing up the edging and then bound off the provisional cast-on on the other side.  We brought in the blocking board and wires I had stored in my trunk just in case, rinsed the shawl in the sink, and pinned it out.  Luckily, the wedding was late enough in the day and lace dries quickly enough that by the next afternoon it was ready to go.

And so, without further ado, here is the (temporarily finished) Lacy Lattice Stole

Project Specs:
Pattern: Lacy Lattice Stole by Fiddlesticks
Yarn: Alpaca with a Twist Fino in Black
Needle: Inox US 3 circulars
For: me
Started: August 2006
Finished: March 2007
Knit as part of the Lace Shawl Knitalong

And here are a few pics of it in action.

I do plan to add the edging to the other side.  One of my other friends (the one in the black dress) is getting married in June so perhaps once school is done I can do that side and have it ready for her wedding. 

I have to say, although I know I won’t be able to work on much lace knitting in the next few years until law school is over, I loved the Fiddlesticks pattern and definitely plan to do some more in the future.  Everything was explained so thoroughly and step-by-step.  There were several pictures so you knew exactly what it would look like, and the charts were a good size so that you didn’t have to squint.  I would highly recommend them to anyone.

I also really like the Alpaca with a Twist Fino yarn.  The silk content gives the wrap a really nice sheen and the alpaca is nice and soft. 

I started this project on our South America trip last August, so there are lots of memories in this stole.  And since I’m sure I’ll bring it along to lots of weddings, it is only going to continue to grow in memories.  I am so proud of myself for being able to complete such a beautiful and complicated project, and I look forward to getting to use it for many years to come.