I have finished crocheting all the braid and tacking it to the pattern. Now just the needle lace/filling stitches to complete.
It always amazes me what happens when I "knuckle down" and work on something!! I really see an end in sight!
I was worried about how to attach the outer braid (pattern is here), but it turns out to be quite easy - just attaching at every point and running the thread through the regular braid.
FYI - The work is all done on the back of the piece. When it is finished the piece will be removed from the pattern and the right side will be revealed - I hope some of the stitches look as good on the right side (the leaves?!).
And the January 1990 Anna magazine the pattern comes from.
Ileanak has a great new Romanian Point Lace blog.