likes and dislikes (lace knitting)

So, I was trying to start the Baltic Sea stole last weekend (tried using two different yarns -- Knitpicks Shimmer in "Morning Mist", and Knitpicks Landscape in "Yukon" -- and decided that I'm really having a problem with the pattern. It's not that it's that difficult, technically; but I don't particularly like knitting in pattern across the back of the shawl. I think I prefer patterns where you just purl back. Just a personal preference thing, really. Also, with the needles I'm using I have a problem pick up the stitches in the columns of eyelets, so struggling with that is no fun. I may try different needles. OTOH, I may just go looking through my knitting notebooks and find a "waterfall" kind of stitch, and design my own shawl.

The yarns are also a bit problematic. Both the laceweight and sockweight yarns have sudden, dramatic color changes, which could be distracting in a complex lace design. So whatever I do with them will need to be uncomplicated.

Yesterday I ordered some Shetland 2/8 yarn from Webs for a traditional Shetland-style hap shawl. I have a Western reenacting event (yeah, I do a "cowboy" thing once a year, for fun) and it'd be fun to have a shawl to go with the outfit I made last year. Not sure I'll have it done in time, however.