Shawl Pin

Normally I sort of turn my nose up to kitschy add ons to knitting. I mean, I don't know how much accessorizing knitting needs. Ribbons and extraneous buttons are often a turn-off in designs to me. The errant right ribbon and button can totally work. These are rare occasions.

However, I did stumble across this shawl pin (a heretofore previously eye rolling accessory in my book) made especially for the MS3 shawl. Recall that the shawl is in the theme of Swan Lake.




You can find it at the Rosemary Go Round blog. $45 for the sterling silver is a bit steep but it truly does make the perfect accessory for the Mystery Stole. I am showing it here in copper because it sets off a bit better in the photo. It is stunning.

Also, the ball of yarn earrings (scroll down in her post) are ultra cute, too. I think I need to print out her blog and leave it around my house for my muggles to find it.

Mytery Stole 4 Word on the Street

Check out how beautiful this stole is. It was designed by the mother of Pink Lemon Twist (Melanie, who is totally not a satan worshipper despite rumors to the contrary) who is going to be the guest designer of Mystery Stole 4.

I am totally digging how gorgeous that sample stole is (again, this isn't the design for MS4, obviously, but is her most recent creation). It even has little beaded trees. Definitely not something I would knit to wear, I would knit it for the back of a couch or to frame above something, but I do admit to having a small crush on it.

Vogue Knitting and Trellis Scarf

last one skeining: Review Monday


(I am experimenting with trackbacks)

I was intrigued by LOS's post about the Vogue Knitting Anniversary Edition. So intrigued that I sent her a sketchy text message asking her to bring it with her to Knitting that night. I foolishly believed she had my phone number in her phone so it was way creepier than I intended my text message to be, by the way. Imagine receiving a vague text message telling you your blog post was "intriguing".

Anyway, she brought it with her and I flipped through and really fell in love with Nicky Epstein's cover project, the floral scarf. She is my favorite designer, and in the last three years I truly do believe the best published pattern in VK has been her floral trellis bag. Even though mine is sitting at home needing to be reblocked, it still pleases me. Though the editors' "update" of that pattern in the anniversary edition was foolish. All they did was change the colors.

So I bought the Vogue Knitting Anniversary Edition, with a special dark silver shadow cast over everything they have ever published. Apparently Target is now selling knitting magazines in Jersey City.

I set to work adding new Nicky Epstein flowers to my Floral Trellis scarf from Scarf Style. I really liked the idea of that pattern (a crochet trellis with roses climbing it) but I hate chenille, and that is the original design, and the cabbage ruffle roses in the pattern were a little too plain for me. Thus, I will create a sort of garden trellis scarf with many different kinds of flowers, mostly by Nicky Epstein as I also have her Knitted Flowers book.

This is my work in progress, modeled by Bear, my surly Himalayan cat.




So surly he won't even look at the camera for me.

I plan to go to the magic trimmings stores on 6th ave in NYC for some interesting stamens and beads.

Mystery Stole

I know you are all curious about where I am with the Mystery Stole. Well, I am still just where I was three weeks ago, which is tinking row 99 so that I can redo it correctly. I feel slightly better about it since the Yarn Harlot recently confessed her lifestyle doesn't agree with MS3 knitting either.

Since they released the last clue on Friday, I am feeling a bit like a fat girl running the Boston Marathon. Everyone is crossing the finish line and I am at mile marker 4.

Never fear, Stephanie, you are not "desperately behind". There's still a knitter (or 16 according to Ravelry) who are still trying to catch up to Clue 1.

Mystery Stole 3

Recent discoveries:

I am stuck on row 99 of the Mystery Stole (halfway through tinking that row because I ended up with too few stitches because I screwed up on the beginning of that row).

I am also discovering I have little time to knit lace in solitude with my current lifestyle.

For the same reason it takes me awhile to get through books, since HP7 has taken me over a week to read and I am on page 500.

Thusfar I have been really forgiving of myself about the slow progress on the Mystery Stole. Yes, I am on the last row of Clue 1. It has taken me a month to get through Clue 1. Four other clues have been released while I finish Clue 1. I attribute this both to my slow knitting ways and the lack of solitude and focus neccessary to master this art. The knitting itself goes quickly, it is the screwing up that eats up most of my time.

Anyway, Clue 5 and the theme of the stole were announced today and even though I am totally forgiving myself for the whole Clue 1 slowness, I am SO ANNOYED I am not on Clue 5 already! The theme of the Stole is Swan Lake and she is having us knit a freaking wing into our stoles! How cool is that?

I love short row shaping. WHY AM I NOT ON CLUE 5 YET?

Oh well. I am going away on Sunday and probably won't pick up MS3 for 2 weeks. The whole pattern will be released by the time I even get to the wing.

I did decide what I am going to probably knit in the dirt. The answer is robots.

Made it!

I got invited to Ravelry yesterday! They are definitely plugging through the waiting list (about 1200 per week). I already found another knitter that employs a Shih Tzu knitwear model and am really impressed at how easy it was to plug in my projects (I have yet to enter a yarn they don't already have in their database, which makes it really easy to not have to hunt for ball bands). I am the only one on their knitting the Building Blocks blankie. And one of hundreds knitting the mystery shawl!

I uploaded some older projects into Flickr and can't wait to clickie some more through other people's FOs and WIPs.

Woo!

Rumor and Inuendo Abound!

I received the following Special Notice from the Mystery Stole 3* yahoo group (I am not signed up for the emails--there are hundreds per day!)

There is a theme guess that was posted on Ravelry** this afternoon
regarding the theme of MS3 as being related to Dante's Inferno and
tying in with some apocolyptic and Satanic symbols. I just wanted
everyone to know that this is purely a guess and not at all correct.

For those who are concerned about this, please don't worry, this stole
and design are completely appropriate for just about any situation
(Christine has pointed out that monster truck rallies, mud wrestling,
and water slides might not be appropriate) . Not all brides will want
to wear it, but that reason will be revealed when I reveal the theme,
and some won't be bothered by the theme.

I just wanted to reassure everyone because I know some people are on
digest and won't get these messages for a while and some of you who are
on Special Notice might see the original post in Ravelry.

Don't Panic, Melanie

I suppose if I were the designer of a mystery being knit by over 4,000 people I would want to squash any slander I came across but honestly, who is going to believe that someone is leading that many people on a blind path into satan worship? Being fairly new to the lace knitting game, I was looking at this more as a learning experience and less of a true "mystery" in terms of deducing her theme. I have also read some of the theme ideas on the yahoo group and they are as hysterical as they are diverse.

Now, Melanie did give fair warning in the pre-project show notes that the shawl would not be appropriate for a bride. It never once occurred to me that the ultimate design, other than being pretty, might result in something out of a horror movie. Though, if I were leading the blind and this kind of rumor popped out, I might make a quick chart alteration for the next clue (clue five is due out a week from Friday) and make some letters that spell out something more mischievous. "Go Fug Yourself" might make a nice surprise.

*I am on row 85 and did not bring it along this weekend for our road trip. However, at some point tonight I managed to add an extra stitch. I sense some quality time with the shawl coming soon to "read my knitting" and repair it. This is the most tedious thing about lace knitting--fixing errors!

**I have been on the waiting list for Ravelry for 2 months and still haven't received my membership. I am dying to get on there!!

Bandwagon

I am jumping on the Mystery Stole 3 Bandwagon. Or, more accurately, I am already on the back of the cart, rain colored yarn in hand dangling my feet off and clutching my circs to my chest everytime the wagon hits a bump.

I haven't photographed my (slow) progress yet but I am totally digging it in full knitster geek way.

It has been awhile since I've embarked on something truly new and challenging*. While I have knit lace before (an entire blanket in lace pieces and the Perfect Pie Shawl from Weekend Knitting) and I just worked something very simple in laceweight mohair, I have never knit a complicated lace project on laceweight mohair. So I thought I would take on the challenge.

I cannot say enough about how awesome the support of over 4,000 knitters working on the same project at (relatively) the same pace is. I went to Patricia's Yarns in Hoboken to get some laceweight for the project and she suggested Rowan Kidsilk Haze. Or, rather, dangled it in front of me like a snake charmer and I was powerless to its influence despite the hefty pricetag.

To the right is a photo of Macy, the Official Spokesdog of the Totally Knitting Universe at Patricia's Yarns. They were very hospitable to yarn loving Shih Tzus who keep their paws off the merch. Macy helped another customer pick a color of yarn the last time I took her over there.

Then I brought it home and started feeling really insecure about the yarn choice. First of all, I have never had a lace project that did not specify the needle size. The ball band and the pattern gave a range of needle sizes, so I didn't even know where to start. Plus, I picked a color other than the recommended black, white or shades thereof. When I start getting insecure it eats at me and definitely puts a damper on the excitement of beginning something new.

So I did a quick search of the messages in the Yahoo group and lo and behold, not only had this question been asked by someone "Omigod I am using Rowan Kidsilk Haze and I don't know what needle size to use! OMG help!" but it had been answered! By list members and the pattern designer, who suggested size 7 needles and assured that it would work.

What a relief!

In addition to that, I am completely loving the resource links! Someone posted a video tutorial on how to do the crochet hook bead adding technique. So much easier than I thought!

Someone posted a link to a description of how to add a lifeline!

Someone posted a link to how to correct a lost yarnover!

And even though I haven't yet needed to add a new ball, I learned about the Russian Join technique.

Clearly I love to learn new things. For the mystery stole, however, I do need to remember not to bring it to my knitting group. My first missed yarn over on Tuesday night requires a bit of surgery.

*As lawyers, when Brian and I first began peeking under the skirt of the great monster that is the knitting universe, we wanted to learn as much as possible and mount our knitting challenges in quick succession. Now that the initial fires have cooled a bit, I had to scale back my thirst for extremely challenging knitting because it is hard to not screw up hard knitting when you don't devote huge chunks of time to it.