Holes (on purpose!) in my knitting

I got a BEAUTIFUL hank of Shimmering from A Verb for Keeping Warm about a year ago (even before I moved to San Francisco!) and was planning on knitting some lace with it as a knit-a-long with my buddies.  It's 100% silk lace weight (3.5oz) in a generous 1093 yards, hand dyed in a color they call Azure.  We all attempted the lace but, for one reason or another, decided that knitting lace wasn't for us at that time.  The yarn taunted me though.  It bugged me that this really gorgeous hand dyed yarn was sitting all wound up in a yarn cake, nestled in a handmade project bag (also from AVFKW) and stored away with the intended lace pattern... and that's where it sat and hibernated - for a year!

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I just finished a project (a pair of socks that have been on the needles for a while; more about those as soon as they're blocked and photographed) and I needed a new project.  Although I feel ready to tackle more socks (and soon) I just felt like a change of pace would do me some good.  After remembering this lonely skein of yarn and the Mystic Star Shawl by Anna Dalvi, I decided to cast on and make the semi-circular version.  This, people, is my very first piece of lace.  The first time (ok, times) I attempted this pattern last year, I was trying the circular version and getting frustrated in the fiddle beginnings of knitting 1.) lace, 2.) in the round, 3.) on DPNs 4.) for the first time.  My decision to do the semi-circular shawl seems to be working; after a number of false starts, I am able to concentrate on the pattern row, count carefully between my markers, and do the "rest" row back.  Yes, it's lots of purling but maybe I'm strange; I don't mind purling.  Actually, when I'm in the "knitting zone" I have to examine my work to even realize what stitch I'm making!  My semi-circular shawl can be seen on Ravelry HERE.  So far, I have learned that lace isn't difficult as long as you don't mess up!  I'm well on the way through chart C now and feeling optimistic about this project.

In other news, Willow spent the earlier hours of the morning struggling to get into the sunbeam.  She struggled and struggled, at times even laying half off the edge of the chair arm to get her little head and ears in the warm light.  (Don't worry; I moved the chair so she could sunbathe right after I took this photo).

Wink asked that she not have her photo taken; she hasn't had her hair done in weeks and said she feels a wreck!

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