Lace = frogging!

Flushed with success, after finishing my first 'proper'* lace shawl, I headed for Vitorian Lace Today.

I chose this pattern from page 50. Full of confidence I cast on and knitted three repeats of the chart (first go at a chart *shock*).

Pants! Absolute pants! Lace is a bugger for showing errors! 3 repeats frogged and cast on again.

Last night and tonight I have now knitted 5 repeats in total. From memory that means I still have another 43 to go. VBG.

Lessons learnt? Count on every wrong side row. Are there still 70 stitches? If not tink it back and do it again. Don't imagine it will all work out ok if you have one stitch too many or too few!

Now I have got my 'eye in' I can see where the s2k1psso should go to get the pattern correct and I need only go back one section to correct my most recent error, but boy do they keep creeping in. You see, I thought I could count but ...

Having said all of the above using a chart is much easier than trying to look from written instructions to the knitting and see where I should be. With practice I think this will get even easier. This chart is a doddle but the knitting is not so easy to read. I think this is beacuse the pattern is not as obvious as some.

Maybe the dark yarn doesn't help either but I love it! It is Cecilia from Posh Yarn in a colour called 'Gothic' which i bought in a 'One Off Wednesday' sale before Christmas. I now have quite a lot of Posh Yarn's Yarn *shock*, Hard to believe I know, but no, really I have! The true colour is somewhere between these two pictures - need new batteries for the camera and too lazy to walk to the kitchen and get any. Valuable knitting and blogging time would be wasted, you understand!

Not much there yet, is there. To coin a phrase, I may be some time...

I wonder if I need a daytime project on the go too? Hmmm? What was that I said last post about doing some sewing? *whistles and looks away* :o)

I just realised I didn't mark the stitch for where to begin knitting on the border - oh more pants!

*I know there is no 'proper' lace and that lace in thicker guages is also lace but you know what I mean - my first fine guage shawl. :o)