And Ah Hay-ulped

Yes, I did.

Today I finished my Janus shawl (from Araucania Lontue linen/cotton yarn), which was supposed to be easy, easy, easy.

The knitting part was.

The crocheted lace?  No so much.

Knitter/crocheter/master-crafter friend Lucille volunteered to crochet the 74" of lace after she tried to teach me how to do it.  It just didn't take and this shawl would never, ever be finished if she hadn't taken on the most difficult part of the project.  74 inches!!!  Of this:

I tried.  And even though it only uses two (maybe three) different crochet stitches, I just couldn't get my brain/hand coordination to work.  And this lace border MAKES the shawl.  So that's why I say I "helped." Lucille did the most work on it.

I did do this part though and it was relatively easy:

Just a bit of picot along the opposite edge.

I love this scarf/shawl and I owe you big time, Lucille!!!

The Janus Shawl

I love this shawl (JANUS shawl)....really, really love it.  So much so that I wanted it in exactly the colors that are in the shop sample, which isn't this one:

The shop sample is in these colors:

It looks like tortoise shell when it is all worked up.  There was a rumor that the shop didn't have any of the color used in the sample and I despaired.  But suddenly, there they were, lots and lots of skeins of the correct color.  Whew.

It is easy to make, or at least it would be if I didn't make so many mistakes. There is a term "trigger happy" and I realize that what I am is "yarn-over happy." Yarn-overs between a knit stitch and a knit stitch, a knit stitch and a purl stitch, a purl stitch and a purl stitch, and purl stitch and a knit stitch are done differently. And each of the three pattern rows has different yarn-overs and I go a little nutty and just throw in extra loops of yarn hither and yon.  An extra yarn-over means an extra hole and an extra stitch which just does not work in lace....throws the whole pattern off.  Toss in a few ssk's and what I have is a mess to sort out.  I am getting good at sorting out.

And yes, if you have noticed that there is what looks like crochet in this shawl, you are right.  Do I know how to crochet?  Why, not really, thanks for asking.  

But my knit/crochet friend, Lucille, promises to help me with this; she is making the same pattern and is a bit ahead of me.  The pattern is charted and it looks like gibberish to me but thank the baby cheeses, not to her.

(Hi Lucille!!!!)