The Big FINISH, Bella the Beautiful

I have been missing for a week.  It is amazing how one appointment here and there added into my busy schedule completely throws me off course.  Work, family, cleaning, appointments and endless, endless knitting.   After all that hard work I have a finished project, one I am pleased as can be with.

Blogging friends..............may I introduce you to Bella.  

Bella is a design by Lene Holme Samsoe from the book Essentially Feminine Knits.  This is the project  that I started five times, the first four were a disaster, but number five made it all the way.

Can I tell you I am beside myself excited that this project worked out?  Don't look closely at the lace portion, there are many errors, but  none that pop out at you screaming that I did something wrong. 

It needs a bit more blocking, but I could not wait to show you.  I finished it last night, sewing on the buttons was the biggest relief to me, it was FINISHED!!!!  Yes I am shouting, shouting for Joy that is.  Bella, you and I have been through so much together these past few weeks.

Lace patterns and I have never had a wonderful friendship.  I must have Attention Deficit Disorder when it comes to counting, for the life of me I can not count to four on a regular basis without screwing up somehow. Lace has a LOT of counting.

I used 670 yards of Vail, a beautiful sportweight yarn made of baby alpaca/bamboo viscose.  It is presented in it's natural color, no dyeing with this yarn.  I used size 3 needles for most of this baby, believe me when I tell you that size 3 needles and I do not get along.  I complain to them that I am knitting at lightning speed and I am never getting anywhere.  I knit, and knit, and knit, then I measure the garment and I think I have actually lost ground.  I had to focus my friends, and for the last week I was determined to get some stitches in, every spare moment I had I was knitting on this baby.  I figured I had to start making some progress eventually.  Finally the Knitting Gods looked down upon me and thought I had had enough torture, so the sweater began to grow.  It was slow, and I mean really slow, but eventually I could see the light at the end of the long, dark, knitting with size 3 needle tunnel.  And here we are FINISHED!!!!!

Once again I have learned a few things about myself with this project.  I learned that I really can knit lace, but that I have to save it for when there is not a lot of stress in my life, so maybe I will tackle another lace project in another 20 years or so.  I learned I can use a lace chart, this was totally new to me and I really liked it.  I also relearned that as hard as I try counting is not easy for me, well I can count with the best of them, but repeating that count over and over again gets me in trouble.  I also remembered why I do not knit socks anymore, it is because those darn needles they use to knit socks are so tiny.  You knit, and knit, and knit and you never seem to get anywhere, and when you finish one sock you have a whole other one to tackle. I have learned that I should not give up, I have never, ever attempted a pattern five times.  I can honestly say I have never had to until now.

So Bella the beautiful you are done.  You look spectacular on Caroline the Dress Form, hopefully you will look spectacular on me, too.  I know you fit, which is an added bonus to this whole long and drawn out project.  For now I am going to leave you on Caroline so I can gaze upon your beauty as I sit here at my computer blogging.

Thank you Knitting Gods for ending my torture, hope you had a good laugh at my expense.  I have faced my Lace Demons and I have won, well this round anyway.  Now give me some thicker yarn and at least size 6 needles.