DQ's Lace

Here's yet another thing that's currently on my needles. This is the beginning of a cashmere lace shawl/wrap in a pattern called Petals by Jeanne Abel. I bought it as a kit (something I rarely do) at the Virginia Fiber Festival in October. It's not my colors at all but that's ok because I didn't choose it... DQ did. Yes, my daughter asked me to make her a cashmere lace shawl and I said ok. It was a weak moment. Or maybe I was caught up in the joy of spending the day with my daughter in the cool crispness of a perfect fall day. Maybe it was simply the fiber fumes affecting my already addled brain.

I'm joking of course. I bought the kit because DQ asked for it and I know that she'll love it and appreciate it and wear it proudly. So far it's been kind of slow going. I'm always so happy with the results of lace knitting that I forget how challenging I find it to knit with laceweight. I think it's the contrast with the heavier weight stuff that I usually use.

The pattern itself has been a little slow to set up. It's a U-shaped shawl and you start knitting at the bottom of the U and increase the stitch count while incorporating the new stitches into the pattern. I can see the pattern becoming much easier to knit once I get beyond the increases. It's not difficult and intuition is already starting to kick in.

One thing that is a little vexing is the needles. I used my usual KP Options when knitting the Alpine Lace stole and had no problem but this time I feel, for the first time, that these just aren't pointy enough. I'm thinking that it may be time to try the Addi Lace needles.