Spin A Yarn for Ewe

My newest lace project is on the needles and moving right along. I am doing Hanami from the very talented Melanie who was also the hostess of MS3. The pattern is a basket weave at one end morphing into cherry blossoms on the other. I am currently halfway through the 4th repeat out of 7 on the basket weave chart.

The yarn I dyed is behaving well and not striping as I always fear and I have added a few more beads then the pattern calls for. It does have a beaded cast on but I decided it just had to have a few more thrown in there for the over all look. Plus I love the way they sparkle just a little bit. See them there?

The beaded cast on, although time consuming, is great looking and really very easy.

I really am having a hard time not casting on something else as I have been working those 2 other shawls for so long now that I really got use to switching yarns and seeing 2 progress along side each other that I might just have to get started on something else. I know I really should wait as I also signed up for this but who has the willpower?!

First off I have to say thank you for all the nice comments on the stole. I really love how it turned out and I am sure it will get much use once the weather cools down.

I finally finished the other version or at least my take on it.
(Click on any of these for bigger shots.)
I decided to do the grafted version but not where we were instructed to. I needed mine to be longer since I worked it on size 2 needles to get a nice fabric. I knit the whole thing twice through clue 4 all the way to the eyelets then grafted them right there. I think it works.

The finished stole is as light as a feather, just 2oz and is so hard to photograph since the slightest breeze blows it around but that is what I love about it. The alpaca makes it super warm but you really don't even feel it on. I mean the other one is light too but this is unbelievable.

The yarn I got from Spritely Goods and it is 100% alpaca. The color I really like it is called, virga. It is a great grey with subtle shading. I don't know if I really like a yarn this thin for lace but since it is alapca it does make it wearable in my neck of the woods. The Spritely Goods yarn colors are really beautiful but maybe next time I would pick her fine sock yarn instead of this very, very fine lace yarn but I do LOVE the finished project.

This was the best I could do myself. I love how this shawl drapes and I really think it is much better on then blocking. Here it is in the stretched out pose so you can see both ends well.


This one shows it wrapped around which kind of obscures the ends from looking so different. I really need one of those shawl pins or sticks to keep it this way so I guess I need to find a good source for those.

The other thing you can't see are all the beads. In person they really stand out but here you can't even see them. Here is a up close shot of the wing that shows of the beads and the subtle color changes in the yarn.


I now have only 97 rows to go on the other version and I am now at a point where I have to decide how to attach them. I saw a finished one with the lace panel in the middle and I am not sure that I like it. I think I am going to block the first half I have done, see how long it is and then decide how to proceed. If it is going to be short I might just do the lace panel to add length but otherwise I think I will just graft it together.

I finished the MS3 winged version today. I really like how it turned out but boy was it a pain to block. That wing was a bear to get exactly how I wanted but I think it looks good now.
This is taken the other way and click on it to get the whole thing.

I will try to get modeled shots of it as soon as it is dry.

Now to force myself to finish that cobweb weight one. I know it will be great when it is done but the yarn is driving me crazy. That alpaca has too much fuzz but boy is it soft.

Holly asked about the shape of the MS3. It really is different but maybe this drawing will help. I know everyone will get it when it is done but I refuse to block it now as I am lazy that way. Plus I only have one more clue to knit.

Basically the first "half" was actually longer then half. It was actually 60% of the finished total. Then you knit the curved section with short rows and p2tog on the WS rows to attach it. It should wear pretty much like a rectangular stole just with 2 different shaped ends. Some people actually lengthened the rectangular first part to make sure it was long enough. I live dangerously and went with the standard version as it should block out to be at least the 77" if not longer and I have a stole at 72" that I like so I figured I was safe. Hopefully that makes sense and if not look for blocking pictures as well as modeled pictures next week. I want this baby done!

I finished clue 6 last night and decided to pin it out (not block) so people could get an idea of the shape. I know I had a schematic of it but pinned out gave me a better idea. It really is like a triangle and rectangle shawl morphed together. Clue 7 will have us purling together with the last stitches from the rectangle and hopefully a really cool edging that looks like feathers.
(Click the photos to see in their full size state.) You can see here the stitches that still wait to be combined with the others, at the bottom.

Down by the green marker. I really think this is going to be a great looking piece. I know others are waiting to see it all done before knitting it and maybe this gives some of you an idea of what it will look like. Maybe not.

I am off to knit clue 2 on the grey version. It is moving along and we now have a great way of knitting them together that does not involve grafting. It does mean I have to rip back 3 rows on the other finished half but well worth it since it will have it connecting with a lace panel. Very cool idea.

How great does this look!

This is from the yarn store that sell my handspun. I asked if they ever knit something from my handspun would they send a picture as I would love to see it. I got this today. The handspun was used for the body and she used matching yarn for the sleeves. So cool. It is Retro Ribby bolero from Knitting Lingerie Style.

Now back to lace knitting.

now I know why I just follow lace patterns and do not try to re-do them. I have knit and ripped this second section 4 times and swatched it and can still not get it right. I gave up cut the yarn and started the symmetrical version. Yes, I had to cut the yarn so I can knit the other half and graft together at the end. It will now have 2 points with 2 rows of eyelets in the middle. I was surprised I actually cut the yarn as I was so frustrated at that point I almost broke the yarn and chucked it across the room. *Deep breath* *Calming down now* I am now on row 20 of the other version. Oh well....

Want to know one way to send a bunch of knitters into a panic? You design a mystery stole and make it asymmetrical.

Yep, the MS3 stole has a "wing" like shape on one end since the inspiration is from Swan Lake. I, of course, LOVE the wing and since I have been knitting 2 now I get to have one with a wing and one without. I am doing the blue one with the wing and the grey without but the grey is not going to be like suggested by Melanie. After reading many thoughts on what people are doing instead of the wing I have come up with my own plan similar to one I saw posted. I am going to do the feather pattern like the wing has but just continuing with the rectangular shape. Hopefully the edge of the wing will have some cool edge and I can continue that on the end of my stole. I guess that makes it still asymmetrical since nothing repeats but I like the idea. I started knitting it last night and it seems to be working out. I was a little afraid of making sure I got it right since I have never done anything with lace except knit it EXACTLY as written but there needs to be a first time for everything.

Since I am bad at taking in progress photos of lace you will just have to wait and see. I have 3 more days to get the grey one done through clue 5. My revised clue 5 has 65 rows and I am only 6 rows in, guess I better get to knitting instead of blogging. Only 2 more clues and then it will be done. Then I can move on to the Honeybee Stole.

I am finally done with both shawls and ready for the next clue in MS3. It should be exciting to see where it goes from here and Melanie is giving up the theme tomorrow too. Big day in mystery knitting.

I also did some dyeing today. I bought a cone of zephyr, crazy I know but the price was so good how could I pass it up. I have decided after the MS3's are done I want to do the Bee Fields stole(when it comes out) and Hanami. I plan to knit it just like the original as I like that both ends are different. Here is what I plan to knit it with.

I think it should be great in this color. Lots of shades of pink since it is supposed to be based on cherry blossoms on the one end. I am happy that my yarn dyeing is getting better but don't ask me to repeat anything since it is just a free for all. In fact I wasn't sure this was going to be okay until I re-skeined it and that made all the difference on this skein.