Fall Mystery Shawl 2010 - Chart 2, repeat 1

I finished the first repeat of Chart 2, I have 4 more repeats to go.  This one is a bit harder than some of the other lace that I have done, mostly because the chart is crowded.  There is a lot going on in it.  It requires greater concentration - when I get distracted by someone talking to me I tend to lose my place and make mistakes.  Fortunately I have not made many mistakes and they have been very straightforward to fix - I catch them on the next right side row.  I really like the way the pattern is turning out.  The picture doesn't really do the beads justice, though.  The only drawback with this pattern is that I have to do the same chart 5 times, and, well, frankly, I am easily bored.  The upside is that the chart is getting pretty familiar to me already, and the key to this one is being able to read your knitting and the chart so you can keep track of where you are, and if you do get distracted you can find your place again without too much difficulty. Another factor making this shawl more challenging is the dark color of the yarn.  It is harder to see your stitches, which makes it harder to read your knitting.  Good lighting is the key here, and I have an Ott light where I sit when I knit.  All the beading really slows things down too, and breaks up the rhythm of the knitting.  But the beads do look really good, so it is worth it.

Fall Mystery Shawl 2010

I am so addicted to lace.  I no sooner finish one shawl when I start another.  But this time I had a bit of a quandary.  From a temporal perspective (release order) the next shawl in the sequence should have been Mystery Shawl 18, but I don't have the beads for that shawl yet.  I do, however, have a substantial bead stash, and I happened to have one bag of the beads that I had decided to use for the Fall Mystery Shawl, and seeing as how I have just completed the Summer Mystery Shawl, I could logically do the Fall Mystery Shawl next, even it is not the next shawl pattern released.

This pattern is a bit more complex than the previous ones from Goddess Knits that I have done.  There are left and right twists, plus beads.  Fortunately, Renee's patterns are logically laid out.  The yarn is Decadently Dark Decadent Lace in Decadent Cranberry.  The beads are gold opaque with colorful metallic iridescence (Beadcats stock no. 2-08-840-18).