Lackluster

I know I haven't updated in a while. There's been little knitting to speak of, but I hope that won't last long. I'm also not feeling very enthused with what I've been knitting, which doesn't help. I've done a little spinning, and am in the middle of turning the heel on the second of the STR socks, neither of which make for very pretty or interesting pictures.

The Mystery Lace KAL went all pear-shaped, too. The designer hadn't actually finished the pattern or had it test-knit. She also didn't seem to manage things very well. Part of this was, I think, that she wasn't prepared for what she got herself into. You can't start a KAL with thousands of participants of all skill levels unless you're completely set with the pattern and able to delegate a little bit. Part of this was also, in my opinion, her own fault. I looked at the legend for the first clue before I started knitting it, and some of it was pretty vaguely written. In the case of the purl double decrease, it was impossible to tell from the legend which one she wanted used. So that led to a lot of questions. Plus there were errors in the chart, which is not uncommon, but also led to confusion. Then she made an offhand comment about whether people were wrapping their yarnovers the correct way, which caused a lot of confusion and lead to a lot more questions. Life got in the way, and she wasn't ready to deal with all the questions and getting the next clue done in time (see above about having things done before you start), so she packed up and decided to charge $10 to participate, because she felt like she was giving too much and should charge for lessons. On top of all this, she seems very thin-skinned.

Hmmmm. I don't need lessons. I need correct charts, with clearly written instructions. I would have been happy to wait, had the designer just said, "Hey, I need an extra XX amount of time to get you a foolproof pattern." I'm not going to pay $10 for a pattern, sight unseen. (That seems a bit much for an untested pattern, anyway. A lot of lace patterns I've purchased lately are in the $6-8 range. And they've been test-knit and proofread.) The appeal of a free mystery KAL is that it's free, so you can quit if you don't like how the pattern is developing, without having wasted any money. If you like the pattern, you pay at the end. I purchased yarn for this that I wouldn't otherwise use, too. Nonetheless, given all the drama both on the Yahoo list and on the Ravelry list, I think I'm well out of this one.

But this left me with a hole in my knitting agenda. I wanted to knit something lacey, so I searched around Ravelry and saw a lot of Luna Moth shawls that I thought were very pretty, so I got out some yarn and cast on. This is what I have so far:

Here's a slightly closer view:

I can't decide whether I like it. I'm using Melosa Lace in the midnight colorway, from One Planet Yarn and Fiber. It's a singles yarn, a slightly heavier laceweight in very subtly tonal shades of blue. I like the yarn, but I'm not sure I like the shawl. I definitely prefer the arier version of this shawl that I've seen. Any opinions?

Any other recommendations? Nothing really seems to be calling out to me right now. If I had the energy and the will, I'd get out the books and design one of my own, but I'd rather be knitting. Well, maybe...