FO: ishbel

It's done, it's done! It took me way longer to finish this once I'd gotten off the plane and was too busy eating and saying hi to everyone in Oakland, but it's finally done, and I'm so happy with it :) 

I always shied away from lace, in large part because many of my lace projects - include three earlier attempts of this shawl - all ended in disaster. Knitting on an airplane somehow really helped me get over the lace thing - and this pattern is so beautiful that I totally want to knit more lace shawls now. 

Other thoughts on the pattern (Ishbel by Ysolda Teague): I will forever love this pattern for making me love lace. Once I figured out the mistake I'd been making in earlier attempts, the lacework flew by! Just make sure your Sl 1, K2togs, PSSOs all line up, and this pattern is remarkably forgiving of mistakes. I had 400+ yards of sock yarn, so I made a smlarge shawl, knitting the stockinette as if for the small size, and the lace as if for the large. The resulting size is just right, I think - I can wear this over a fancy dress or kind of bunched around my neck in the autumn. 

and the yarn (Juno Fiberarts Alice Sock in Canopy): oh my god, this is the most beautiful yarn I have ever touched. I know knitting bloggers are probably prone to hyperbole when it comes to this sort of thing, but I swear this time I'm serious! I love how soft it is, and the gorgeous variety of colors it comes in - though, tragically, the price (I paid nearly $36 for a skein) and the international shipping (I've only found it in the UK) make this a bit prohibitively expensive.