The Lace Stole is begun!  I have worked 6 pattern rows – each stitch the size of a fly’s leg draped over the needle – and the knitted fabric stretches out to nearly half-an-inch (it is usually wrapped around the needle like a piggy’s tail!).  A couple of hours of knitting have gone into this fly’s leg/piggy’s tail thing.  Not counting all the preparation and swatching before I began and then the additional notes and color-coding I did on the chart after I had done a few rows.

But I am on my way!  And surely I will hit my stride and make more rapid progress.  Not that I have grand illusions about finishing it any time soon.  Nope, a lace shawl is to be savored in the making – because it is going to take nearly forever to do and one had best start enjoying it now! 

It is a humbling and a hopeful process.  I don my bifocals and take a deep breath and focus and eek out careful row by careful row.  Humbling, in a good way, as it makes me appreciate the tremendous craftsmanship and perseverance of other lace knitters.  Humbling, in a good way, as it reminds me that, for all my knowledge and skill, I can only make this stole one precious wee loop at a time.  Hopeful because I believe that all these precious wee loops, carefully arranged, can become a thing of beauty fluttering, delicate and grand in the summer sunshine (maybe not this summer’s sunshine…).

Yes, well, knitting lace shawls does this to me.  Makes me all rhapsodic.  It is one of the reasons I love them, I think.  And, of course, because I find them irresistible!

Which reminds me:  I need a name for this stole.  Maybe something about spiders – from the stitch pattern names?   I find spiders irresistible, too.  Hmmm.  The Spider Stole of Irresistibleness, perhaps?