Mystery Stole 3 -- half of Clue 4 done.

Clue 1, which started with the point (2 stitches) had 2 charts (A & B) for a total of 100 rows.

Clue 2 (Chart C) had 50 rows. Clue 3 (Chart D) had 50 rows.

Clue 4 has two charts (E & F) -- the first is 70 rows (to row 270) the second is 65 rows (to row 335, an unusual odd-side end). I've now completed Chart E -- and only have 4 more nights to do Chart F if I don't want to be" behind", like I usually am. This is spread across two cushions of our sofa -- the dip between cushions creates the "line" that seems to be in the middle. (Remember, you can click the picture to get it full-sized.)

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I'm amazed that I'm still on the first skein. You can see what's left of the ball on the upper right. I have 3, and thought I'd use them all up on this stole -- but I think I'll have a lot left over.

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http://www.knitpicks.com/Alpaca+Cloud_YD5420108.html is my yarn -- at $4.29/50 gram hank = 440 yards -- you get a lot of knitting from a hank/ball!

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So -- I'll probably end up using $10-$12 worth of yarn. But the stole will still be priceless when completed. I figure that it takes on the average 15 minutes for me to do 2 rows. My time is worth a lot more than minimum wage. I probably have well over 34 hours in this section so far, since I frogged and started over. At even $10/hr, this much knitting would be worth $340 at cheapy rates!

Mystery Stole 3 -- through Clue 3

I've completed Clue 3 -- 200 rows. After blocking and measuring, it was about 26.5 inches long. Melanie's is 25" long at that point -- it's about 1/3 of the total length of the stole. So I'm glad, mine will be about the right length without having to change/repeat-in Clue 4 to add 11" or subtract 11".

The first picture is while the stole was being blocked. What looks like a big black splotch in the middle is the print on the blocking board showing through -- that helps you perceive how transparent the stole is.

(Do you know that you can click these pictures to see them in a bigger size?)

The second picture shows a close-up of the knitting that has some of the beads on it. I can tell that there's a glint on at least one of the beads -- but you might have trouble seeing it. (If you click the picture, though - you might be able to see a couple of the beads.) The way you add beads to the knitting is that, when you get to the stitch that needs a bead added, you use a size 13 (very very fine) steel crochet hook to slide a bead onto the stitch before knitting it. There's a tutorial here: http://fluffyknitterdeb.blogspot.com/2005/08/by-special-request-beading-made-easy.html

Then I unpinned it after blocking, and took a picture of the just-over-2-feet-long section (and almost 2-feet wide) on our off-white sofa, so that you can see the pattern without blocking-board-print interference.

Birthday Celebration with a Treat in the morning!

Steve treated us to a Segway (amazing personal transportation with gyroscopes) Tour of the San Francisco Waterfront as a birthday treat (Mark declined to come, Barbara enthusiastically joined). We took the 9am tour - and finished up about noon.

We started off with personal and group training, and a movie. We started up our Segways with a key that limits speed to 4.5 MPH.

Then we headed out in two groups of about 10 people each. We went up and down some hills in style. The tour guide talked to us over walkie-talkies that were strapped into the packs on the front of our units as we "rode", and stopped to talk to us in groups at certain stops.

When we got over the biggest hill, at Fort Mason, the guide let us zoom around the mostly empty parking lot. He usually gave such practice at a pier before the hill that leads to Fort Mason -- but it was closed. Then we shut down our Segways and restarted with a key that limits speed to 8 - 8.5 MPH. (There's third key that we didn't have -- that can let you start at the max of about 12 MPH.)

Before departing Fort Mason, we paused at an overlook to Alcatraz.
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We ended the first direction of our tour at the Marina Green. We then retraced our route, except that we went a little longer way back, going around Fisherman's Wharf. San Francisco doesn't allow Segways on sidewalks (we could use pedestrian/bike paths most of the way) -- so we were in the streets in the vicinity of Fisherman's Wharf. We made a cute little parade. We had a lovely day -- the fog was pretty much burned off except at the Golden Gate. We all had a great time.


We ended the day with dinner out at an Italian restaurant, and a raspberry-chocolate torte from Safeway.

Mystery Stole - Clue 2


Clue 2 consisted of 50 rows (ending at Row 150), worked on 99 stitches across.
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I didn't block this section -- I just spread it with my fingers. This picture doesn't really show you how loose the stockinette stitch is.

I'm going to lightly block after finishing Clue 3 -- because that will help me decide whether or not I need to lengthen the stole. Clue 3 will take me to about 1/3 of the total length. If I want to lengthen it, I repeat a section of Clue 4 rows which will add 11 inches to the stole.
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I actually wonder whether it will only add 1/2 of the 11 inches on this side -- and whether one then repeats on the opposite side, when one gets to it. I may have to do the addition.
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I think for Clue 3's picture, I'll take an entire-section shot followed by a closeup to show how very open my stockinette is. I stopped at Row 190 last night, which means I'm just 10 rows from finishing Clue 3 at Row 200, blocking, measuring, and then starting Clue 4 (which came out last Friday).
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Clue 3 has 2 sets of charts (like Clue 1 did). It goes to Row 335 -- not to Row 336. We usually end on a wrong-side even row. So there's a great mystery about why we're stopping at Row 335. .
Also, we are supposed to put a special lifeline in Row 287 (or if you lengthen it, in the second instance of 287). She suggests using a different color -- or somehow marking it, like tying lots of knots into the ends. This is also a mystery, because it's usually easier to put a lifeline in after an even-side perled row, rather than a lace-knit right-side row. There's a big discussion about why.
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I bet she's going to have us come back and pick up stitches for some sort of frill there.

Mystery Stole 3 through Clue 1

OK. I had to do some catch-up on pictures before I could let myself post the Mystery Stole progress. I'm actually working Clue 3 now -- but only one clue per posting until I catch up!

Clue 1 consisted of 100 rows -- to make the starting triangle. Row 1 had 2 stitches, the last few rows had 99.


1.) Here's what the beads look like close to the yarn. I did not end up using the Original Balene circular size 5's. I changed and started the test swatch with an Original Balene circular size 4's. I didn't like using the circulars. Especially with lace, I like being able to prop long single-needles to one side of my hip or the other when doing something tricky. So I finished the test swatch with straight Original Balene size 4's.



2.) Here's a somewhat blurry closeup of the beads -- I was trying to show the iridescence and color highlights.











3.) Here's the test swatch after blocking. Even though the stockinette section was very airy, I thought it would be OK. When I got to working on the real thing, and after looking at Cathy's pictures, I decided to frog and start over on size 3's. I didn't have Original Balene size 3's -- but I did have Balene II size 3's -- which are working well for me. The yarn isn't too slippery on the Balene II plastic.


4.) I wasn't liking the way Clue 1 was turning out even on the size 3's. I was pinning it out to take a picture to send to Carol at Row 90 -- and saw an error at Row 82 (I think). I must have accidentally dropped a stitch and picked up a different stitch somewhere, causing a cascading error. I decided it didn't look too, too bad when pinned out, so I tinked back to Row 83 or 82 (I forget) because I couldn't figure out how to fix it and all subsequent rows. I worked a little past Clue 1, then pinned this to my ironing board and spritzed it, so I could see what it would look like lightly-blocked. I decided to stick with it, even though it's still somewhat airy, because size 2's would be way too small.

Mystery Stole 3 Knit-A-Long!

The Mystery Stole 3 Knit-A-Long by Melanie http://pinklemontwist.blogspot.com/ was closed to new subscribers in early July. She's going to be featured in a USA Today article because almost 7,000 folks around the world have joined in. The first year's membership (the one I missed), there were about 760 members. Last year, I think there less than 2,000.

I had a couple of bumps along the way. I did my test swatch on size 4 needles, and near the end of Clue 1 decided the real thing was too loose. I frogged-it and started over on size 3's. I'll post some pictures of progress later. But this post has the yarn. Recommended colors were black or white. The stole also incorporates beads. For a while, I thought I might completely start over with different yarn -- but when I rough-blocked Clue 1, I decided it was going to be OK. This baby alpaca yarn is finer than the laceweight yarn I used last year. I do like its texture. It is soft -- and even if the finished shawl turns out small-ish, it will be nice to wear when you don't want something too, too warm. I think it will feel like wearing a (nice, not nasty) spider web. It is extremely light.


1.) The Alpaca Cloud "Midnight" baby alpaca knitweight yarn that I got from KnitPicks is black with dark blue / dark green highlights. I'm using hexagonal seed beads that are iridescent black.
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2.) I used my ball-winder to take the old-fashioned skeins and make pull-out skeins. I was afraid that, with the yarn so thin, I might break it. But I didn't. These skeins are coming apart on the outside a little too easily as I work with them -- but the pull-out skein is still easier to wind and use than a hand-rolled ball.

Catch-Up Time Part 2

3.) So, the missing baby afghan probably really belongs here. Too bad Betsey and Rich didn't send me a picture of it with the baby -- I could have a really nice posting then!

4.) After finishing that, I began a shell-in-the-round pattern crocheted afghan for Mark. It was one of his graduation presents, and he can take it off to college in the fall to keep warm, and to have a little bit of Mom/home with him.

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5.) I had made a scarf from two skeins of black eyelash yarn. It left a nubby texture that reminded me of the way Russian hats look. I thought maybe it was a kind of fur -- bear fur? -- but someone tells me that it's a particular kind of wool. At any rate, I bought two more skeins and was hoping to find a good hat pattern.

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My colleague then bought some Bernat eyelash yarn, and a hat pattern was printed inside her label, but was made for single-pointed needles -- and you then sewed the hat up.

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I figured out the changes to work it in-the-round, and knit it on 16" circular needles up until the last couple of rows (then I had to switch to double-pointed needles. That way, when I was finished knitting, it was done! Kathy then modeled the finished products for me, even though she didn't want to. She took my picture, too -- but she looks better in it than I do!

Catch-up Time.

OK, I'm missing a picture, but I'd made a crocheted baby afghan for Rich and Betsey. Darn! How could I send it off without having taken a picture?!?! I don't know what I was thinking.


So, here are the other items I've made in the interim.


1.) Fingerless crocheted gloves, because the modular we work in has so little insulation, and we had a severe cold spell... (I also made a hat with the leftover yarn, which was a tad too small, so I didn't take a picture...).

These gloves aren't quite as warm as knitted ones. I may use some leftover laceweight yarn to make knitted ones from a pattern I've recently found. But that won't be for a while.




2.) My first socks. I used KnitPicks self-striping sock yarn.

This first picture shows what they look like looking towards the inside toe. I knit on 4 needles, and needed a fifth. Working on 4 makes it much easier to follow the instructions, since there's a top and a bottom when you work the toe and the heel -- so the stitches are evenly divided.




-- a picture taken at the same time as above, showing progress from the outside. These were toe-up socks.











And the two pictures below show the finished socks!