Provisional cast-on, and chart reading!?

Sometimes, when I choose a pattern, I choose it based ONLY on the pictures. Sometimes, that's not so smart. Because then, when you go to start knitting it, you realize it's full of things you've never done before...for example, provisional cast-on and a lace chart. haha Most times, I would not choose a pattern like that, unless I knew how to do those things. But...Well, I really wanted to knit this thing. And so I decided it was time to man up! Learn some new things already!
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It turns out those things were amazingly easy compared to what I had originally anticipated. The cast-on was only messed up twice before it was right, and following the chart has only caused two very minor mistakes, which were caught and fixed before the row was even complete.
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I'm not going to lie. I am pretty much amazing. haha

Example of this mystery item?

And there it is in all of it's glory! It's knitting up a lot faster than I had thought, and I'm getting exciting about trying another thing like this!