Slowly advancing toward lace knitting.

So, as much as I dislike swatching I thought it might be a good idea since I've never knit lace like this before. Things have been going like this.....

I ordered a addi lace circular needle in size 6. Just what the pattern said. I'd never had one before and thought I'd splurge. I waited anxiously for it to arrive. It's a nice needle.

I got the yarn out and started a swatch. Cast on. Knit a row, purl a row. Back and forth. Cast off. Measure. Count. 23 stitches to 4". Measure again. Count again. 23 stitches to 4". It's supposed to be 19 stitches to 4". Frog.

Go up to a size 7 needle and it's not the nice new addi lace circular. :( Cast on. Knit a row, purl a row. Back and forth. Getting booorrringgg. Cast off. Measure. Count. 22 1/2 stitches to 4". Measure again. Count again. 22 1/2 stitches to 4". AUGH! Frog.

Go up to a size 8 needle. This one isn't an addi lace circular either. I should have known better and ordered a couple on either side of the size 6. Well, anyway, back to the knitting. Cast on. Knit a row, purl a row. Back and forth. Resigned to doing this forever. I haven't finished the swatch yet but have done a measure and count and came up with 20 stitches to 4". I might just call it close enough....On the other hand that might be a bad idea. But I don't know if I have a size 9 circular....then I'll be back to ordering and waiting again. Confused.

The silver lining in the swatching is this....The yarn had what appears to be a different colorway stuck on the end of the hank that happened to be on the beginning of the ball and I found it by doing the swatch. Dumb luck.