Sweet Ishbel

I knit my very first lace shawl last week and I LOVE it. Seriously, in all the years I've been knitting I've never knit a real lace shawl using lace yarn! I've knit lacy patterns before on edges but nothing like this.

Ishbel
Yarn: Plucky Classics 'Ms. Marianne Dashwood
Needles: size US 6
Started: Jan 15th
Finished: Jan 24th

I thought when I cast on for this that it would take me forever to do. The yarn was so thin, but after knitting a few rows of the stocking stitch I realized it would go much faster than I thought. I was thrilled when I started the lace pattern but oh my, the amount of times I had to knit back a row because I had forgotten a yarn-over! I soon learned that I needed to count after every lace row to make sure I had increased the right amount of stitches, then I would purl the next row and knit the next lace row, then count again. It was much better this way because I still did forget a YO now and then but I could go back along that row and correct it instead of having to undo the purl row too.

I was thinking of gifting this but I like it so much I might have to keep it. And can I tell you I just about had a heart attack at the end while casting off. I don't know what I did but as I purled two stitches together it was like I'd dropped a stitch and the edge started unraveling before my eyes! I quickly tried to pick up what I thought was the dropped stitch and carried on MUCH slower, and it happened again. I don't know what I was doing wrong, I can only think I wasn't 'scooping' up the first purl stitch? And then it happened a third time and this time there looked to be about 10 stitches unraveled? I don't know how, I just sat there looking at it hardly daring to move, and not knowing what to do. Finally I carefully tried to pick up what I could so that more didn't unravel, and finally I did it, although a tiny bit of the edge looked a little off by now. I tried to take a close up picture of the 'error' when I had it blocking but when I look at it you can hardly notice because it's all so lacy, so I think no harm done.

It's raining today so I will try to get some modeled shots at the weekend.

Also last week my goodies arrived from Knitpicks....

I finally got some sock blockers, and some holders for my dpn's while knitting socks (haven't used these yet, but I still have my mystery socks on the needles, so I need to try them out. I was surprised though that they are only made of cardboard?)
I also got 3 skeins of Gloss lace in 'Sterling' (grey) 2 skeins of Alpaca Cloud lace in 'Autumn' and 4 skeins of merino wool, 2 in Hollyberry and 2 in Vanilla. I think I'll be doing more Ishbels in the lace for gifts.