MS3 Clue #3

Here's my MS3 stole so far. (The white thread running width-ways is a lifeline at row 150.) If you see something that looks a little whack-a-doodle, that is because there are a few whack-a-doodle things going on here. I pinned and stretched this sucker to see what it would look like at 20" wide and blocked. The stitches really do pop out nicely, and 20" actually seems about right for my stole width. Doesn't it just figure: When gauge doesn't really matter; I get gauge!!


I'm still mulling over whether I'm significantly bothered by the, shall we say, "nonconformist stitches" (?) to rip back 45 rows and fix them. Currently I'm leaning toward "eh, screw it."

Here's a close-up. I really like how the size 6 beads show up, although I think the #8's on the edge are almost invisible.

Ravelry Hard as Nails, in Spite of Whining

You all have heard the Ravelry buzz, haven't you? It's the new web site, currently in beta testing, that is supposed to do for knitting what e-bay did for online garage sales. Some of these beta testers have reported tantalizing little crumbs of information about how truly beyond beyond Ravelry is. Some of us still on the 10,000-person waiting list to become Ravelry beta testers are feeling a wee bit pissy and jealous. And perhaps a smooch desperate. So I sent the Ravelry team this message:

I don't suppose begging and whining will help make me a beta tester earlier, will it? Just in case:

Please, please! I'll clean my room and mow the dog and feed the lawn!

But I wa-aa-nta be a beta tester! Everyone else is a beta tester, and if I'm not a beta tester soon my entire summer will be ru-uuu-ined! I WANT IT! I WANT IT NOW!!

Still stony and unmoved, aren't you? Heartless SOB.

P.S.: How about blatant bribery: kickbacks, payola, a load of Koigu that just fell off the back of the truck? Let me know.

So I heard back from them today. Apparently, they think I'm joking. Hi-jacked that truck full of Koigu for nothing.

Take this Shawl and FROG IT!

Last night I was listlessly pulling at the shawl I knit for my friend Eileen, and the darn thing started coming apart in my hands! Now is that God giving me a little prompt or what? And frogging it was not the nightmare I was afraid it would be, once I got started.

Everybody has their own system, but here's how I "freshen" used yarn. Wind it on to a long (24" or so) piece of cardboard, tie it off with figure-8 knots in 4 places, soak skein in Eucalan for 20 minutes, squeeze out water, wrap yarn in a towel, sit on it until it's as dry as I can get it, then hang the skein on a plastic coat hanger in my closet with a big bottle of something weighting it. This morning I woke up to this:

Oh, yeah.

Eucalan has restored my motivation.

Mojo-licious: Rich, gorgeous Helen's Lace

These aren't my colors, but Eileen is a green-eyed blond and I think they will look smashing on her. As for patterns . . .I still don't know what I'm going to do with this 1,200 yards of buttery-smooth loveliness. Any ideas? I'm afraid the variegated colorway would not show off a super lacy pattern, so I'm looking for a shawl designed for multi-colored yarn. I think I will be perusing Barbara Walker's 2nd stitch pattern treasury tonight . . .

Screamin' Green Victorian Shawl

I have heard/read so many stories of knitters who picked up Jane Sowerby's Victorian Lace Today and immediately knew which project they wanted to do first. For me, it was the cover shawl, aka the Melon Pattern Shawl. Here it is:

Ooooh. Aaaah. Just aglow with rich mohairy goodness.

I love everything about it, including the funky green color. The instructions call for Rowan Kidsilk Haze, but after seeing a gorgeous 40% silk/60 % mohair blend online at Sarah's Yarns (available in natural white only), I decided to try and dye my own. What motivated me? Price, for one thing. I could dye my own for less than half the cost of the Kidsilk.

If you would prefer not to discuss filthy lucre, please skip down 2 paragraphs. For everyone else, here's the straight scoop on costs:

• Kidsilk Haze, 3 skeins @ 13.50 per sk = 40.50
• Sarah's Yarn Kid Mohair Silk, 3 skeins @ $5.50 per sk. = 16.50
• Both yarns are 230 yards/25 gms per ball. I already had the acid dye.

In addition to cost considerations, I've been wanting to work on my dyeing skills. Right now I'm something of an "advanced beginner" -- smart enough not to use the dye as a margarita enhancer, but not a lot beyond that.

And, as much as I'm a flighty knitter, I am a serious-as-a-traffic cop dyer. A row of knitting goes bad, you rip it out; a dyepot of woolens goes seriously bad, and they can hear me cussing the next town over. I take my time, use separate "dyeing only" spoons bowls, measuring cups, etc., and pray A LOT. But nothing beats seeing a yarn come up the color you were hoping for. I wanted "CHARTREUSE" and that's what I got:

I'm about 22 pattern repeats into what is supposed to be a 62-pattern-repeat shawl, and there is a cloud on my horizon: Word out on the street is that this shawl is a "yarn hog" and silly me only dyed 700 yards (what the pattern called for). In other words: There is no getting more of this yarn! (Picture knitter hitting her forehead repeatedly with a tailor's ham. It was handy.)

One thing that makes this situation less nerve-wracking is my handy, dandy electronic scale. I don't know what I ever did without one. I can weigh my stole-in progress, see how many grams of yarn I've used:

• 15 grams for 23 repeats (I weigh the other needle & same # of stitch markers, so I can subtract that number from the working stole weight.)


• from this information calculate that there is approximately .652 grams of yarn in each of my pattern repeats, and
  
• multiply out .652 grams times total # of repeats (62) = 40.424 grams.

SO, based on this info, I should have enough yarn, since I have 75 grams and 35 grams (75 minus 40) should be plenty for the border.

Unfortunately, I was an English major and I never trust my math (you probably shouldn't either). Still, I will probably keep weighing my shawl-in-progress -- every 5 repeats or so -- to see if that .652 grams per repeat is holding true. Also (I'm not joking about this), run my calculations past my 16-year-old son, because I can trust his math.

So maybe I'll be okay. If not, 52 pattern repeats should be plenty.

Also, here are a couple of detail photos of the "Cathedral Window" lace pattern I used on the lambspun shawl. The pattern stitch can be found in The Knitter's Bible; If anyone wants more information on how I made my shawl just let me know. I'd be glad to write down my pattern -- it's super-simple.

Fear of Frogs

I was digging through my sundry pile of wayward knit goods today, looking for inspiration. *Sigh* What I found instead was this little number (modelled by Mitzy): . . .which doesn't look so bad until you get to the incriminating close-ups. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, here is your perp walk:

*The knitting police

Are coming my way ...

They're gonna take away my double points ...

Gonna sell them on e-bay...

*(Sung to the tune of "Bad to the Bone" by

George Thorogood and the Delaware Destroyers)

So here's the back story: About 5 years ago I wanted to make something really special for my friend Eileen's 60th birthday. (I know! A shawl!! ) No matter that I had never knit a shawl before, or that Eileen's birthday was in --oh -- 3 weeks. I ordered a lovely skein of Lorna's Laces Helen's Lace (50/50 wool silk) and started the pattern printed on the ball band.

From the get-go, this project was a cuss fest. Compared to what I was used to knitting, the yarn was puny, the needles were a matched set of hat pins, and the pattern . . . well, the pattern assumed I had a clue, which I did not. My motto for this project was "Just keep going!" (Wasn't that the last line in "Thelma & Louise" -- like right before they went over the cliff?) I had heard that many errors "came out in the wash" when you were knitting lace, and I was really, really depending on this little truism to save my bacon.

Alas, there is not enough "wash" in the world to erase this shawl's iniquities. I did not finish it in time for Eileen's party (finally gave up and made her a quilt,), and when I did finish it I didn't know what to do with it. It's not that Eileen would have even seen the mistakes -- she's one of the nicest ladies I've ever met, and would have worn the mangled thing with pride. Isn't that the way it goes, though -- the very friends who don't mind substandard knit goods are the people you want to give perfection! (Or as close to perfection as you can muster.)

So, I think I should frog it, wash it, and try again. It has been 5 freaking years, after all. I even thought about knitting another MS3 with this yarn, but I don't think its variegated colors would suit the pattern.

Yep, that is what I need to do. Frog it. But somehow I never get around to it. One of these nights I need to sit down with this wanna-be shawl, a glass of wine and a pair of scissors. Or maybe a bottle of Jim Beam and a machete.

The Sopranos and Clue #2 Don't Mix Well

I've decided I just can't watch The Sopranos while working on MS3. Which is a dagger in my heart, in its puny little way, as watching The Sopranos while knitting is one of my hallowed calorie-free middle-aged pleasures. But I put in the dvd, started working on Clue #2, and almost immediately was in a world of hurting. I have to accept the fact:MS3, for me, requires both eyes full time. No quick glances to see if Tony and Carmella are getting back together.

So I switched over to Court TV (which normally, for me, does not require peeking), and tinked back to row 100. It took me most of the day, knitting at half the speed of smell to complete clue #2. There are at least 2 errors, but Brad Pitt with a rose between his teeth could not convince me to tear out the 30 rows I'd need to frog to fix them. Here it is:

Yeash, I am such a wimp, whining about my traumatic knit session. Next week maybe I'll try something sane and do 20 rows on Friday, 20 rows on Saturday, and 10 on Sunday. Maybe I'll put on NPR and sit on the front porch and drink lemonade and sing hymns. Right.

On another front, here is the Lambspun stole, blocked. It is loo-oo-oong, measuring about 21" by 81". As usual, I probably over-blocked it a wee bit. I will try to add another picture which shows better pattern detail -- these just show how incredibly loo--oo--oong and gold this monster is.

For now, I am craving mindless bimbo knitting. Also known as Sopranos Knitting. I'll let you if any of the odd balls in my stash makes me an offer I can't refuse.

Shawl Themes "Inappropriate" for a Bride

1. He’ll Leave You For a Bimbo When You’re 40.
2. Too Late for a Background Check Now.
3. A Short Pictoral History of Last Night’s Bachelor Party
4. His Mother Replaced Your Birth Control Pills With Tic-Tacs.
5. Sure He LOOKS Sincere…
6. Stretch Marks.

Okay, the Lambspun stole is blocked, but I have not yet had a chance to take photos. I had 2 plantar's warts (ewwww!) removed at the dermatologist yesterday and have been limping around ever since. The good news: This was a great excuse to lah-di-dah around today and knit.

I started MS3 knowing that the project was teetering on the edge of being completely beyond my kin. The only lace I have knit up until now has been simple pattern-repeat lace. Nothing at all artsy. But oh, how gorgeous those artsy stoles are! When I saw Melanie's designs I jumped in, imagining a new Beta version of myself, a stylish woman wearing an artsy, elegant beaded stole. Seeing as how a fair portion of my current wardrobe was purchased at Sam's or on e-bay, it would take a danged big shawl to disguise my mass market paint-stained capris, but a girl has to dream, right?

So I entered this project the same way I enter most projects: Like a rabid bat in a Lladro shop. Slap Dash would just about sum it up. Grabbed my needles and started flinging stitches here and there, all the while trying to keep an eye on The Sopranos. I got to about row 22 and realized I had forgotten to put in about a third of the edge stitch yarn overs. No problem, I tore it out and started again, promising to take more care with this effort.

This time I got to row 46 before I was hopelessly screwed up. Anybody who knits the way I do has to be a serviceable tinker, and I am. I tinked 3 rows, certain that this would set me right. Even then, my stitch count was 3 off, and no amount of counting, re-counting, examining, praying in tongues, or fudging would fix the 3-stitch mystery.

I turned off The Sopranos and leaned over the little scrap of lace, making rabbinical noises (hmmm! haaaa! mmmmm?) as I examined it. After about 15 minutes of this, I tore it out again. Clearly my usual methods were ineffective with this pattern. (A sane person would have figured this out at "go.")

So I pulled out the heavy artillery. Post-It notes. Magnetized rulers. Tape. Many, many hi-lighters. A row counter that hangs around my neck (nothing says "knit nerd" like a row counter that hangs around your neck). I ended up with a setup that looked like this:



Does it or does it not look like a schematic for an intake valve on the Space Shuttle? But this is the only other "knit mode" I possess: Complete Overkill. Systems within systems. I had a close call around row 90 or so when the center stitch started moving around (?!). This freaked me out until I realized that the pattern required it. But Complete Overkill Mode got me through to row 100. Can I say it was fun? Not necessarily. But it was a challenge met, and in the end I felt like I had kicked that Space Shuttle intake valve's butt. That's what really matters, isn't it?

Well, I had really good intentions about telling you the details of my wacky hi-jinks with Mystery Shawl 3. Unfortunately, I have been up to my ass in alligators over here, trying to finish a merino/silk stole that I started last month. The good news: As of this morning, I only had 16 rows to go. The bad news: Each row was 316 stitches of patterned lace. And I did it, casting off that last stitch with a mighty sigh of relief. And here it is as "yarn blob":

Yech! Unblocked lace is truly uninspiring. Here it is again, a little more composed:


I need to give it a good soak in Eucolan and block it, either tonight or tomorrow. I was motivated to finish it because I know once the SECOND CLUE (!) comes out tomorrow, I will once again be a slave to The Mystery. I got the yarn for the shawl pictured here at this year's Wool Market in Estes Park. I bought 2 skeins of this gorgeous hand dye (color:"Brass Button," I think it's more "Old Gold" myself) from the folks at the Lambspun booth. It was so decadent to knit, I decided I wanted a really big pattern to show it off, and, after digging through several knitting books, designed a simple shawl around a pattern called "Cathedral Windows" (from The Knitter's Bible).

So, good Lord willing, I will have pictures to show you tomorrow of this stole blocked and ready to go.

Mystery Stole components

THE YARN:
Malabrigo lace weight in "Velvet Grapes," purchased online at http://www.yarncountry.com/ . (Order reached me 3 days after I placed it & very good prices.)

THE BEADS: I'm using 2 different types:
For the edge stitch: miyuki hex beads in DBLC-115 (topaz gold luster)
For the inner stitches: miyuki size 6 in 0462 (metallic gold iris)
-- both purchased at http://www.foxdendesigns.com/, another great site. The order got here 2 days after I placed it! ZOOM! Plus they have a great flat rate on priority mail -- all USA orders ship Priority for a flat fee of $4.25.

THE NEEDLES: Brittany birch #4's. I put my swatch on circulars to block it, but prefer to work on straights if possible -- dealing with the cable join on circulars while dealing with LOTS of YOs can turn me into -- dare I say it -- A screaming swaybacked Gorgon.

THE SAGA:
I found out about this knit-along the day before the first clue was released, a Thursday. After looking at Melanie's (gorgeous) previous Mystery Stole designs and other designs in her online shop (at http://pinklemontwist.blogspot.com/), I decided I had to get on the Mystery Stole 3 bandwagon.

After perusing the laceweights in my stash -- mostly Zephyr and knitpicks --which are wonderful yarns -- I decided to look elsewhere for my MS3 yarn. I am still low on the learning curve for lace knitting, and I wanted something a wee bit thicker for my first "serious" lace project.

I considered Koigu, but since the damned family has to eat EVERY day, I had to look elsewhere. I checked out 3 local yarn stores (LYS's), and found nothing. Went back to the internet and discovered Malabrigo lace weight merino, a low-twist thick/thin merino with a beautiful soft hand. And reasonable -- $10 per 477-yard skein. I researched Malabrigo a little more. It's so hard buying yarn online, but after checking out a lot of yarn reviews, I found that most people loved Malabrigo ("buttery soft!" "silky!" "Slap your momma with this yarn and she'll thank you!"), while a minority of traditional knitters don't like it because of the low twist.

I'm more of a wing-and-a-prayer knitter myself, and the Malabrigo colors looked scrumptious. I picked one in a great variegated purple (Velvet Grapes) and sent my order for 2 skeins to yarncountry.com. Foxden Designs has a great selection of Miyuki beads, so I picked a few that looked like they would work with the Malabrigo.

So: Placed orders for yarn and beads on Thursday. Beads came on Saturday, yarn arrived on Monday. And --oh my -- what yarn. It really is one of the nicest lace weights I've ever laid hands on. Very low twist, almost like roving, but it holds together great. My pictures so far do not do the color justice, but it is amazing. I'd say 5-6 different purples blended together, everything from a dark, smokey lilac to an almost black deep plum.

After reading some of the messages on MS3's website (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mysterystole3/, BTW), I decided to go with a finer bead (the #8 hex) for the edge stitch and a larger bead (#6 iris) for the interior of the shawl. Basically, I feel like if I'm going to all of the fussi-tudinessness of placing each of these beads individually, I want them to show up.

Winding the yarn into balls was delicious -- I like hand-winding as I think it lets you get to know the yarn better. Malabrigo was showing itself to be strong and accommodating. If I weren't married, I would date this yarn. Not a single knot in almost 1,000 yards!

And then I started chart A. I hear a few of you out there saying "What about your gauge swatch?" Personally, one of the things I love most about knitting lace is that, IMHO, We don't need no steenking gauge swatch. Am I the only knitter out here who hates to knit gauge swatches? (Can I get an "Amen!"?) And normally I do it, grumpily, because I don't care for sweaters that would accommodate Java the Hut or Olive Oyl, but not me.

But if a knit stole/shawl/scarf is a little bigger or a little smaller -- who cares? I just pick a needle that looks right for the yarn (usually 2 sizes bigger than that recommended for the yarn on the ballband) and cast on, feeling like a knitting heretic because I have broken one of our commandments with impunity: Thou shalt always knit a gauge swatch.

Tomorrow I'll let you know the scintillating details of bead placement, left-and-right leaning decreases, and the controversy over slip-stitched edges. But for now, feed the baby, water your garden, eat a bratwurst, and -- by all means -- knit something.