victorious

(I took these pics a couple of wks ago, but somehow forgot to put them on the blog until today.)

Learning to knit lace can be a pretty big challenge, but apparently not too big a challenge for an 11-year-old knitter on a mission.

Leah's Swallowtail shawl was off to a rough start in July. Torn out and started over.

Another attempt and fairly smooth sailing for a while.

Confidence growing, she moved into the Lily of the Valley section within a couple of weeks, replacing the nupps with beads.

Knitted like crazy, trying to finish it in time to wear to her Great Grandma's 90th birthday celebration, only to step back and realize she had made some big boo-boos in understanding the chart. There were tears and the shawl went into a major time-out, from early August until mid September.

It re-emerged for the Franklin County Fiber Twist almost two months later and was finally cast off, blocked, and debuted at our favorite lys by mid October.

Somehow, none of that matters anymore. I think wearing this lace is all the more sweet for her because of the difficulties overcome along the way. Oh, the compliments! Oh, the proud smile! Oh, the buzz of making something so beautiful from two sticks and a ball of string!