Secret of the Stole swatch

swatch and beads
Originally uploaded by maxfun47.

Yes, I've signed up for another one. Even though I haven't finished the Mystery Stole 3, I signed up for the Secret of the Stole KAL anyway. I have good intentions, does that count? Besides, I have a whole spool of this lovely teal Zephyr in my stash and I think it will be gorgeous when knit up.

Anyway, here's my swatch and the beads I'll be using. They're teal 8/0 beads with a gold lining. The picture was taken with a flash, so it gives an idea of the sheen in the yarn and the sparkle of the beads. I think they make a lovely pairing!

I used US3 (3.25mm) Addi Turbo Lace needles for this swatch and I like the way it looks, so I think I'll stick with it. The clues don't start coming until October. Hope springs eternal that I'll be able to keep up -- or at least that I'll finish it. :)

Mystery Stole 3 progress

You've been very patient and I've been remiss. So here is a picture of my Mystery Stole so far, very hastily pinned on a dining room chair. This is part way through Clue 2, that's how behind I am. Bother!

You can't really see the beads in the picture, but they're there. They are aurora borealis beads and add a touch of color when the light hits them just right. Unfortunately, they are hard to photograph on a black background.

I like how this is going. It's just that it's slow and I can't work on it here and there; it needs my full attention or else problems ensue.

Having seen the progress other have made (like Tammy) I'm anxious to get caught up. Just need more time to sit and concentrate. :)

MS3 is on!

Woo Hoo! Melanie posted the Clue 1 for the Mystery Stole 3 KAL and I have cast on. Here's what the first 20 rows look like OTN. I'm using Jaggerspun Zephyr in Ebony with black-lined aurora borealis 8/0 beads on a US size 4 (3.5mm) Addi Lace Turbo 32" circular needle. So far, so good, although it's very slow going getting used to laceweight yarn and attaching beads using a US size 12 (1.0mm) steel crochet hook. It's a bit wonky trying to get started, but it gets easier as I go along -- partly because of practice and partly because there's more stability to the developing fabric.

I don't know if I'll finish all 99 rows before Clue 2 appears next week, but I'm going to try!

Feather & Fan Blocked

First off, let me just say that blocking wires totally rock! They arrived yesterday and I blocked the shawl on the floor in my craft room. I think I used a total of about 20 pins with the wires. If I had done it with pins alone, I hate to think how many it would have taken! Not to mention that I probably wouldn't be able to stand upright today. LOL

Unblocked measurement: 18" x 84"
Blocked measurement: 27" x 86"

I might have been able to get more length if I sacrificed on the width, but I think opening up the lace width-wise looks the best and the length is actually quite workable for me.

So far today, there has been some sunshine with transient clouds. No rain or hail, yet (we had both yesterday), so I took a few pictures outside.

The shawl pin is one I purchased at my LYS. It's from Gita Maria and I think it pairs well with the colors in the shawl.

Altogether, Ellie seems unimpressed. She'd rather be in her bed, strategically placed in a sunny window.

Feather & Fan Fini!

It's finished! Seems like it took forever, but I finally decided that it was long enough. Here it is in its unblocked state

Specs: Unblocked measurements: ~84"x18"

• Yarn used: Interlacements Rick Rack II, color #103 - Submarine (which doesn't look like the picture on their Web site at all)


• Amount used: About 900 yards - finished piece weighs in 298 grams, leaving abou 154 grams of yarn for making a matching scarf or some such.


• Pattern: Free one provided with the yarn, basic Feather & Fan with two-stitch garter border added on each side for stability.


• Started first try: December 4, 2005 - Discovered I cast on 180 sts instead of 108(!), frogged


• Started second try: February 23, 2007 - Completed April 8, 2007

I'm extremely pleased with the way the colors blend in this yarn and the way they look with the feather and fan pattern. It's very evocative of watery things to me, which is perfect for a shawl that's intended to debut on a cruise.

The feel of the yarn is wonderful, too. Rayon has a softness to it that's very, very touchable and it has a wonderful weight that makes it drape beautifully.

Now I just need to block it. I ordered a set of blocking wires from Knit Picks so I can get the edges straight and not break my back placing 15 million pins. So blocking will wait a bit until that package arrives and then I'll give you post-blocking pics and stats.

Onward to the next adventure!

We have a winner and (almost) a shawl!

After an extremely scientific process, wherein I put all the entries into an Excel file, then used a random number generator to determine which entry was "the chosen one," a winner was selected for the blogiversary contest. Since said winner is three hours ahead of me, she's already posted about her win on her blog, but nevertheless, congratulations go to. . .

If you've never visited Monika's blog, Smoking Hot Needles, you're missing out on some great knitting content. I aspire to create one of her Vertigo scarves, and her other patterns rock, too. I'm sure she will create something marvelous from the Trekking and Debbie Bliss merino DK. Enjoy!

The "Knit for Joy Flock" at Heifer International currently has two sheep shares. Hey, it only takes two to multply and fill a field, right? If you feel so moved, please toss in a few latte's worth and buy a share. Ten bucks is, what, about three large lattes? Yet that little bit could really go a long way towards improving life for one family, who then helps another, who helps another, who helps. . . you get the idea. :)

In other knitterly knews, I'm almost finished with the feather and fan shawl. I've now officially gone through half the skein of yarn and the unblocked scarf is abou 58" long. This rayon yarn has a lot of heft to it and it pulls the lace out nicely, even without blocking. I'm not sure how it will "take" to blocking.

Anyway, here's a question for y'all: How long should I make this sucker? Obviously I'm not going to use all the yarn. If I did, I think the darned thing would be long enough to wrap up several people. But I'm not quite sure where to stop. Your opinions are needed! :)

You can see the next ball of yarn there resting on the rail. And yes, that's the same black dress used to model the Lace Wings shawl. See how I can get a completely different look from the same dress by just using a different shawl? Perfect for the cruise!

More shawl love

The Lace Wings shawl came off the blocking pins today and my love affair with it deepens! If you'd like the pattern, contact the good folks at Lettuce Knit in Toronto. Believe me, it's well worth the effort when you can achieve such loveliness from one skein of Sea Silk.

The shawl pin in the pictures is also gorgeous and fits perfectly in both design and color with this shawl. It's one of the many lovely choices handcrafted by Romi. This one is made of copper and goes really well with the bronze colorway of the Sea Silk.

The dress in the pictures is a lovely little black party frock I purchased from Nordstrom online (the local store didn't have what I wanted in my size). For my upcoming cruise, I wanted something that I could wear on the formal nights, changing the look slightly by pairing it with a different shawl. So this is the first shawl and the feather and fan will be the second. This pairing will get a test drive at an upcoming party on April 7th.

Oh, and yesterday on my way to a gig, I stopped in at All About Yarn in Tigard and bought some Addi Lace Turbo needles. And boy, oh, boy am I itching to use them! I actually managed to browse the yarn selections, but not buy anything. A prudent move since I have so much in my stash right now to knit that I can't even remember all that's there.

Back to work for me! I need to get some projects finished so I can knit some more! :)

New shawl on the block!

Yeah! My Sea Silk Lace Wings shawl is complete and, as I type, pinned and drying in the other room. If I say so myself, it's gorgeous! Best of all, it worked up quickly and used only one skein of Handmaiden Sea Silk, which has to be one of the most luscious yarns on the planet.


But before you see it blocked, here it is just off the needles. I love the way it gets really skinny at the ends so that you can easily tie it in a variety of ways.


And I love, love, love the way the colors change on this. The mixture of bronzes and golds and silver-greys makes for a truly lovely look.


Can you tell I'm in love? :)


Okay, so here it is blocking in all its glory on the floor of my spare room. I'm not the best at blocking these things, so it's not comletely even. I'll probably go back and make some more adjustments, but I'm not going to get too anal about it. It's amazing how I can see the blocking imbalances in a picture, but I can't when I'm standing over it in the room! More proof that in life, perspective is everything. :)


Blocked measurements are 68" wide by 31" neckline to tip of the triangle. I had my doubts about the size of it as I knit. I thought I was going to end up with a scarf! But it came out great. As usual, with lace you have to have faith that all will be well, because you simply cannot tell what size something really is when it's on the needles.


Just so you can get a better feel for the colors, here's a close-up. Unfortunately the sun isn't shining directly into that bedroom right now and I didn't want to wait until later in the day to take the pics, so this will have to do for lighting.

So, one shawl down, one to go before the cruise. The feather and fan shawl is proceeding nicely. It travels with me wherever I go so that I can get in a few rows whenever possible. I think it's about halfway done, although I still have two full balls of yarn left. That's deceiving, though, because I didn't weigh each ball when I was winding them off the skein to make them equal. Therefore, I have no idea if I've used half of the skein or not. In any case, when it gets to about 70" long, I'm done no matter how much yarn is left.


I've also started my second test-knitting project, which is a pair of socks made with Knit Picks Gloss. I like the yarn. It's soft and has a nice amount of give to it and is not overly prone to splitting. To get gauge, I went to size 2 DPNs instead of the size 3s specified in the pattern. I have until mid-April to finish these, so it's a good thing that one shawl is done. Dividing my attention between two projects is fine; three is pushing it a bit. :)


Oh, I mentioned yesterday that I received a subpoena. Oh joy. Not. It's really nothing bad, it's just a pain in the patoot. You see, I work as an independent contractor in a few different arenas. One is test knitting (duh), which doesn't pay much, but keeps me in yarn and I get to learn new things and work with materials I may not otherwise have tried. The second, and primary, thing is transcription and editing, done for a company based in San Francisco. Third, I deal cards for a local company that provides entertainment at casino-style parties. All three of these gigs are on an independent contractor basis, which means (a) there's no promise of when work will be offered, (b) there's no guarantee how much work will be available, and (c) it's completely up to me whether or not I accept any work offered.


Sounds pretty straightforward, eh? I like it because I get to do a variety of things and I can do them pretty much whenever I want to. I don't have to go into an office and I can work in my bathrobe at 1:00 in the morning if I want to (which I do, frequently). I'm free to schedule my time so that I can go shopping during the weekdays and avoid the weekend crowds. The downside, of course, is that I have no employer-paid benefits, no paid vacation or sick leave, and only a minor amount of control over how much money I make each month.


Anyway, the State of Oregon has decided that the casino party place should be paying all of us as employees instead of independent contractors. Why, I have no idea. I mean, that's what I call my "fun job," and one that I wouldn't do at all if it wasn't fun, simply because it doesn't provide that much income. It's very seasonal work. During the holiday season (November/December), we're extremely busy with company parties. During the rest of the year, it's sporadic with graduate season being a brief blip of frenzied activity as we do grad-night parties (until 4:00 in the morning). So basically, you can work a LOT in November/December and make decent money, but after that, you may work only two or three parties in a month, which is just enough to buy a few more skeins of Sea Silk or some other luscious yarn. Certainly nothing like being an employee. I have to provide my own cards, buy a vest and tuxedo shirts to conform to the "uniform" standards, and get myself to and from the events -- which can be very nearby or a couple hours' drive away.


How does any of that constitute employee status??? I have already provided a written affidavit answering a bunch of questions from the State and been interviewed by them on the phone. I've told them that if I'm an employee for this casino party company, then all the high-tech and customer call center companies in the state should be very afraid because they use independent contractors all the time in a much more intense fashion that this company does. I know, 'cause I've worked for some of them.


It's a witch hunt. The State doesn't like that this casino party company provides 'gambling' to people and they don't get a cut, even though no real money is used in the gambling; it's just funny-money and then the client decides what prizes to offer, if any. But the guy who owns the company has lobbied in Salem for things like making it legal to offer Texas Hold 'em tournaments at fundraisers (that was previously forbidden) and I guess he pissed off the wrong people.


Anyway, next Tuesday afternoon, I am now required to be near my phone so that they can call me to 'testify' in the hearing regarding this matter. It could be worse; I could have to go to Salem and sit in a courtroom for the afternoon. Nevertheless, it ticks me off and makes me nervous all at the same time.


So that's the long and the short of it for now. The sun is shining and I'm heading out this afternoon to head towards Lebanon (Oregon, that is) for a Chamber of Commerce fundraiser. On the way, I'm planning a few shopping stops, including to an LYS that I haven't visited before. Not that I need yarn, but. . .

Ciao for now!

Crocus, shawls, cars, Isela's book, and a tattoo

It's almost springtime! At least that's what the crocus and daffodils in my yard think. When the occasional sunshine does come out, it definitely feels like spring is approaching. However, in the mountains, they're still getting snow -- something that makes the ski resorts very happy. We even had a little bit on the valley floor earlier this week, but it didn't last very long.

Anyway, since the sun peeked out this morning for a bit before the cloud cover took over again, I snapped a couple of pics of shawls in progress (SIPs).

First, I have made rather significant progress on the feather & fan shawl. I'm working on the secod of four balls of yarn. If I use all of them, the shawl will probably be about as tall as I am (which would equate to 70" or, for non-Americans, ~178cm). I'm not sure I want it quite that long, but we'll see. It really is looking at home among the crocus, sort of like a waterfall by my front porch. :) I love the colors and the drape of the fabric. This is now my traveling project. I've worked on it in coffee houses, hotel lobbies before casino gigs (and on breaks), and at the bowling alley during league. This is the only way I can be sure it will be finished in time for my cruise in May.


Although this is my primary project right now, I simply could not keep my hands off the skein of Sea Silk I purchased from Yarnzilla. So I broke out the Lace Wings Seasilk Shawl pattern by Alice Cooley that produces a shawl from just one skein of this wonderful fiber and started knitting. (You can order the pattern from Lettuce Knit in Toronto. Just drop them an email to make the arrangements.) This yarn is fabulous!!! The color I have is called Bronze and I really like the way it's working up so far. The lace pattern is simple, a repeat of four rows, two them lace and two of them resting (aka, purl) rows. About 10cm (~4") you switch needle sizes to 1cm larger. I started with 3.25cm (US3) and am now on 4.0cm (US6). I'm not sure how big this will end up being, but I'm sure it's going to be fun to wear and I hope it's done in time for the cruise. Doesn't it look sort of like a sunset over those pretty crocus?

Oh, for you loom knitters out there, I got my copy of Isela's new book, Loom Knitting Primer, yesterday. It's really wonderful with lots of great pictures of various loom and board techniques as well as some very handy patterns. Congrats, Isela!


Finally, Scout asked us to share our tattoos. I have just one (so far) that I got this last fall at a car show. A friend and I went to the show and sat around all day waiting for the judging to be concluded and winners announced. The show takes place every year at the Chinook Winds Casino and Resort in Lincoln City, Oregon. They always have nice trophies and sometimes cash that goes along with them. One year my car took 2nd place; one year it got the "Just Cuz It's Neat" award. Both times $75 cash came with the trophy. Not bad for a day at the beach.

This time, they had traditional categories awarded by a group of judges as well as two awards voted on by folks in attendance. (Oh, the picture there of my car is obviously not at the beach. That was taken at Timberline Lodge on Mount Hood in August of 2004.)

Awards weren't handed out until around 6:00 p.m. While we were hanging out, we checked out the mobile tattoo artist's books and I found a design I really liked. When asked, the artist said it would cost $70 to have it put on my ankle. That didn't sound too bad, but it was more than I really wanted to spend. When the awards were finally announced, the judges passed me by, but not the folks who were at the show. I won both the Exhibitor's Best of Show and People's Choice Best of Show awards, along with $200.

My friend looked at me and said, "Now you can afford that tattoo!" She was shocked when I said, "Yeah, let's do it!" And thus, this design now graces my right ankle, partially covering the scar from surgery to install a plate and several pins when I broke it in 2003. So, my first tattoo was purchased at the age of 50 to celebrate awards received at a car show!