Lessons in Lace

Lace knitting really is different and a challenge. For one thing, "holes" in the knitting are part of the pattern, and not a mistake to be fixed. Some tips which have helped me in kniting lace and working from the chart:

1. Place a stitch marker just before the center stitch, and also where one chart ends. The Mystic Waters shawl is large enough that it spans three charts wide.

2. Use a metal cookie sheet and a long strip magnet to mark the current row. Place a check mark next to each completed row.

3. Count the stitches after each completed row (every 2 rows in Mystic Waters) to make sure that the stitch count is correct. If the count is off, there is a mistake somewhere. I also mark the stitch count on the side of each row on the chart. Mystic Waters is a triangular shawl which increases 1 stitch on each right hand side row.

Despite these tips gleaned from the KAL, I'm finding that this shawl has been slow going and there's been quite a bit of frogging. Still, I've finished Clue 1! Perhaps it would have been wiser to begin lace knitting with a smaller project...........