The Magic of Charted Lace

I don't know why I was always so intimidated by charts. Maybe it was the whole right-to-left, bottom-to-top thing that always threw me. Turns out, they're the best thing anyone every made for left-handed knitters. Yep, we get something in our favour!

Because we move stitches the other way, we get to read the chart the other way, from left-to-right, as you normally would. And with a little electronic magic, even the bottom-to-top-and-start-reading-the-wrong-line-mid-row is ameliorated. Knit Companion allows you to upload a pdf of your pattern and gives you a nice highlighter to keep track of your row, as well as stitch and row counters. The paid version lets you do even more exciting things to keep yourself organised.

The upshot of all of these marvels is this amazing shawl from Anne-Lise Maigaard & Nim Teasdale:  Wild Swan.

The yarn is Fiberspates Gleem in Blue Lagoon, a 50-50 Blue-Faced Leicester and silk blend. I was looking for something natural, to block well, and with a sheen to make it a bit of a fancy thing, and this fit the bill just nicely. And for all emergency blocking needs, I can definitely recommend Yarn Glorious Yarn, lovely ladies who understand that some Saturday afternoons you find you're in desperate need of a set of blocking wires and pins yet have no idea what to do with them!

This is my first foray into such a big lace project, and I thoroughly enjoyed knitting it. I've never been as excited to block something before, and it was wonderful to see how much Mum liked it.