I joined up for Seasons of Lace yesterday, and since I had the Swallowtail shawl in progress for the HPKCHC I thought I might as well enter it. I've reached repeat 13 of the budding lace 2 chart - I'm aiming for 19 repeats - and have run out of needle :D I can't stretch it out enough to take a proper picture. You get the idea, though:

( Just the one picture this time )

I finished the Cobblestone Pullover for Dad last Friday. I'm really pleased! He loves it, he wears it (amazing in itself) and I loved knitting it. The yarn is James C. Brett Kool Kotton (an acrylic/cotton blend) because Dad prefers cotton to anything else, and wouldn't handwash anyway. He has other things to do with his time. Anyway, the point is that it was a huge success. Kudos to the designer :)
( 2 pics )
A'tuin has come to a bit of a halt. Not because I'm bored with it or anything, but Mmario is rewriting part of the pattern and I don't want to accidently go past what he's done. Plus, I realised that I was going to need another two balls of yarn. I asked PersianPenName if I could buy hers (even though it was stash yarn rather than selling/trading yarn, and not only did she agree, she is sending it free! The kindness of knitters always amazes me :) I've made a new friend!
Anyway, progress. This is up to about row 40:
( 1 pic )
And finally, yesterday I discovered the sale at John Lewis. I have come away with 5 balls of Rowan Damask in green (half-price!) and have cast on the Shaped Lace Tee by Joan McGowen-Michael. It looks lovely. I think the colourway actually works with this one. Normally variagated yarn tends to cancel out the lace, but I can still see it fine.

I cast on A-Tuin this morning using 3.75mm needles (that's all I had in both DPN and circular). I've ripped it back again. The needles just aren't pointy enough. I'm going to get a new set in 4mm for both, since I know I'll use them again. For Vkandis, for starters.

Darn. I was so excited too. Excited enough to spend another 3 hours unwinding that skien of blue laceweight last night.

Finished fourth repeat of Kiri. I've been reading people's entries for it on ravelry, and there's one thing I don't get. This repetition of 'the yarn is so thin! It's scary.
' and 'lace is scary'.

Steeks are scary. Needles thin enough to skewer you are scary. Yarn and lace are not scary.

Thin yarn is the same as any other yarn. It doesn't even behave differently. Why is it scary?

And lace is just a series of buttonholes. In fact, it is simpler than that. It is knitting as we saw it when we first started learning. Holey knitting, batman! It's holey knitting!

So... ummm. New stuff is nerve wracking, but not terrifying I don't think. And yarn has never been scary, just pretty :D

And on that topic, hooray for ebay purchases. I hope the colour is as pretty as I think it is.

EDIT: Okay, managed to get both cones of yarn. Rowan lightweight DK, roughly 2000 yards by my estimation, in red and brown. Yay! I'll probably use it for the rope top and add arms.