Lots of Lace...

I finally finished this lace shawl last week - it has taken a very long time, not only because I kept getting sidetracked with other projects but also because it is rather large!  This photo does not do it justice, but I need a day of sunshine in order to get some decent pictures which show off the vibrant colours to their best advantage - it's Britain in April, that could take a while!

This shawl was knitted in two parts and joined in the middle - not sure why; I initially thought that it was to ensure the ends both had a wavy finish to the edge, but after blocking, this is not the case.  The pattern called for the pieces to be joined using the Kitchener method, but after doing this, it looked really clumsy and ugly against the delicate lace, a thick raised seam.  So it took me 2 hours to unpick that - couldn't afford to lose any yarn as I only had about a meter of it left.  I tried joining it with a double cast off - ran out of yarn and had to unpick that too.  I ended up simply sewing the ends together - it's not great, but less obtrusive at least.  I hate it when a lot of work is spoiled by something like that - if I had known, I would have just knitted one long continuous piece.

On the easel - a small watercolour of a sparrow.  Not feeling very creative at the moment, having a rough time caring for Clovis whose health is up and down like a yoyo.  I think I might be putting our vet's children through university...