Having the right tools ( week 57)

Ginkgo Shawl

Remember the shawl I started a little over two weeks ago?  The one I had bought the pattern and yarn for in Swansboro, NC ?
I had seen the store sample at "The Salty Sheep" and the owner, Peggy, helped me choose some very fine yarn.
Last week I had started with the Lace section.

So much easier

The lace section is an easy to remember pattern, but I was struggling with the "k3tog".  Almost each time I had to poke the stitches first to make them large enough to insert my needle through all three.  I did this for the first 14 rows and must say it was no fun especially since there are so many of those stitches and the rows are getting longer and longer.

You can see that the lace needle (top) is much more tapered and has more of a point

...and it slides through the 3 stitches with ease!

I wanted to avoid buying yet another knitting needle.  I have multiple size 4's, but next time I was at The Knitting Garage at A L Stickle I did buy a size 4 Chiao Goo Lace needle and switched my stitches over in the very next row.  The rest of the knitting was so much easier!!! It really pays off to have the right tools. 
I even did two rows in the car on a very bumpy ride to the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, MA.  This winter left the roads up here in terrible disrepair. But with the right needle even then I was fine to do my stitches :)

Pass it on

Since I had such a good experience with using the best tools available, I helped someone else.  On Tuesday, when one of our customers was struggling to make the bobbles for Building Block #3 , I had her try out the lace needles and she promptly not only knitted faster and with more ease, but ended up buying a set.  She had been using dull pointed wooden needles until then.  Not to say they are bad needles, but there is a time and place and project for them and lace knitting is not it.

Please help re-name this shawl

Pre-blocking

On the blocking mat

close-up of the ginkgo leaf

I finished knitting the Gingko Shawl which I had named "Zen" after the name of the color for the yarn used as Main Color.
Once I started using the Contrasting Color ("Celeste"), I felt that "Zen" no longer seemed the right name as giggles of happiness started rising up in me... perhaps "Swansboro" after the town where I bought the pattern and yarn?  Any suggestions are welcome!

 Happy knitting everyone, till next week :)