Shawl (stole) for Sonja

Pattern: Lacy Stole from the Lion Brand website (free registration required)
Yarn: Lion Brand Microspun in Ebony
Completed: March 2007
New skill: LACE!

I began this project in the spring of 2005 while I was on internship and looking for ways to decompress. I bought the yarn and began shawl-type projects for two of my closest friends, ideally for their 2005 birthdays. One was finished in time for that event and was featured here--Suzi's fake-fur capelet. This is the second one and became Sonja's 2007 birthday present.

This was a project I tended to work on from home rather than on airplanes and such, and it was long enough that it endured a few major hiatuses (hiati?). The pattern was definitely difficult at first. I learned quickly that making a mistake with lace was a pain in the butt to frog. And the whole thing, once I passed Sonja's 2005 birthday, seemed to be taking FOREVER to complete.

But once I got used to the pattern, I kind of got fond of it in that "you're difficult but I love you anyway" kind of way. Sort of like an unruly child, I imagine. When I measured it in March and realized with a jolt that it was practically finished, I just couldn't bear to bind it off right away. I didn't want to bid farewell to the pattern just yet. So I worked a few more repeats, said my goodbyes, and bound it off. Is that weird?

I opted to not block this, after much agonizing over whether or not it was worth it to try and block acrylic. It's not knit from laceweight mohair or anything, so it's not a little crinkly ball that doesn't look like lace until you block it. Microspun is slippery, sport/worsted weight, but very very soft. It looked pretty good from day one (once I got the pattern right). Finally I figured we can always block it later if Sonja wants (kind of like the post-gift-giving felting in Mom's birdhouse).

Anyway. It was a good first lace project, if a little long-winded, but having it be a straight rectangle made things simpler. It's now kind of a bummer though, to have your first lace project have such a ho-hum name as "Lacy Stole". Maybe I'll have to think of a cooler name.