On the MS3 front, I am within 10 rows of finishing clue 4. During the last few days I have had the pleasure of working on the stole at my sister's house. As you can see from the photo the view is distracting. But, Domino the cat, keeps me honest. The blossom laden bush there is a Rose of Sharon and is hosting a multitude of bees and a few birds swoop in every once in a while.
One nice thing about this part of the clue is that it is a very large piece of the same pattern. So, I am getting a feel of what lace knitting the same pattern on a project would be like. I think, I would like it as well as this stole that has so many different motifs. This would be especially true if I am able to add beads to it.
While I am here I am also spinning up some beautiful reddish fawn colored alpaca. I will have a picture of that the next time.
The past few evenings I have been spinning up some Leicester Longwool and Alpaca that I dyed up a few weeks ago. It is hot and humid here in New England and sitting at my wheel is the coolest area in my living room. Of course, it doesn't hurt that my wheel is in the direct path of the central fan that we have in our apartment.
I thought that I would also answer some questions that people have posed regarding my MS3. No, I didn't dye that yarn. It is a yarn from Great Adirondack Yarns called Cobwebs (80% alpaca and 20% silk) in the colorway Pheasant. I am using size 4 needles on it and the beads came from a little bead shop up in Stowe, VT. The beads go perfectly with the yarn. I must have a good memory for color since I didn't have the yarn with me when I picked out the beads. As to the condition of my kitchen sink - we rent our apartment and I am very careful when dyeing and rinsing out my wool. Fortunately, the kitchen sink is stainless steel. The kitchen has no evidence of dyeing but you should see my collection of old towels!
Today I head off for the western part of MA to babysit my sister's house and Bull Mastiff. I am really looking forward to knitting and spinning beside the pool with few or no mosquitoes. Even better, her house has air conditioning!!
Well, the beautiful spring-like weather has left my part of the country. But, I was able to get a lot of dyeing in while it was here, as you can see. As I write this, the alpaca to be plied with the dark blue/green roving and the red/orange roving are in the dye pot. All the other fibers are going to be part of a yarn I will probably call Summer Garden as these are the colors currently blooming in the garden.
On the MS3 front - I am 3/4 of the way through chart E. This is the biggest piece of the shawl that I have worked where the design is the same and will continue to be so through chart F. At this point, I tend to prefer the constant changing of motifs from the other clues. Maybe my opinion will change after chart F.
Today has been a great fiber day thus far.
First, I worked on clue #4 of my MS3. At this point in the work, the designer had stopped adding beads to the project. I can understand the rationale that the beads may be a little hard to lean back on when wearing the stole. However, the beads are so small and we have all gone through a little discomfort at times just to look fabulous. So, I figured out a way to work some beads into the design for clue#4. I love knitting with beads and I really didn't want to stop.
Second, I put some rambouillet roving into the dye pans with plums, royal blue, mustard, and celery colors. Tomorrow I will dye the corresponding alpaca for the second ply with the plums/royal dyes mixed together. I may also dye some blue faced leicester roving that I have. That one may be with some reds, nutmeg, etc. This week I got some dyes from Prochem. Now, I am having a great time playing with the new colors that I picked out.
Third, now I am going through a fleece of leicester longwool that I have to pick out the uvm (unidentified vegetable matter) and cleaning it so I can dye it later. These next few days are going to be relatively humidity free and will be perfect for drying fleece.
Back I go to get a batch of wool out of the kitchen sink where it has been soaking while I have been blogging.
This morning I finished clue 3 in time to wait less than 24 hours for clue #4. The designer has already told us that the stole is about 1/3 done. Now I have to figure out if I want to make it longer than the 75 approx. length of the stole. I have enough yarn to extend it, if I wish. I have a cut velvet stole which is the perfect length for me. Now I can get back to couple of the other projects and make some progress there.
This is my first KAL, and I am really enjoying the process. Usually, when I knit I am setting my own schedule and doing it alone. With the KAL, I am still alone in my knitting, physically. But, there are a lot of people that I can share the experience with on and off-line. I am already starting to think about the possibility of joining the Knitting Olympics if it happens next summer. Or maybe, there should be a Needlepoint Olympics with something like a big project for the holidays a the actual item - Christmas stocking, etc. Something like that may prove to be more portable.
Okay - I will admit that I was one of the first to download clue #3 from the MS3 site on this past Friday morning. This is only a sign that I ave grand illusions of grandeur as I was heading up to Manchester, NH to work at a booth at the TKGA show being held up there. However, upon my arrival I saw that a MS3'er had left a message begging for a look at the chart for Clue 3 as she did not have her laptop with her. So, at least, I was able to satisfy one member of the list with an exposure to the chart. Also, I brought my stole in progress along to show other lace knitting addicts.
However, I did not get a chance to start work on it, in earnest, until Sunday morning. At this point, I am only half way through the clue/chart. One thing that I have learned is that I need to get up at least an hour before my DH on those mornings when I am going to work on the stole. This morning I didn't have enough time between my wake up and his to get into the stole 'zone'. So, when he left for work, I was not relaxed enough nor feeling secure enough in my stole knitting to idly look up from the chart and wish him well on his day's journey into the morass of daily work. I did look up from the chart long enough to kiss him goodbye but went right back to the chart as he was heading to the door. He went on to tell me pertinent information, like when he was coming home, and he made the mistake of looking back. When he noticed that I wasn't looking at him and intently listening he asked if I had in fact heard him. Yes, I had. But, following the chart ( on a row with many decreases, etc.) was far more important at that time. This could be one of the reasons why men don't get this fiber addiction that we seem to have.
Sleep well and may the threads of your dreams remain untangled.
Well, this one took a little longer, but Clue #2 of MS3 is now finished! Life in the form of - both the Ladies and Men's (absolutely fantastic!!) Finals matches at Wimbledon, visiting friends on Saturday for food & Scrabble, and afternoon humidity - caused the delay. I had to tink back on some rows when I realized that there were too many stitches at the end of a row. But, there wasn't anything that I couldn't either fix or work around. This will be a perfect stole to wear on cool late summer evenings!
Now, I am finding myself checking out the blogs of other lace knitters and already thinking about the next lace project. That reminds me, "Victorian Lace Today" recently joined my library. Since I have already started knitting lace, I am now ready to start reading the book. I am sure that one of the projects in there will talk to me.
So far today I am about 1/2 way through Clue #2. Now that the Ladies Championship is over at Wimbledon I have gone back to watching the wonderful music of the Live Earth concerts being carried on the Sundance Channel. How can you beat that? Knitting a beautiful lace stole while being serenaded by some of the world's best musicians for a good cause. check out http://www.liveearth.org/ for more info on the concert and what we can do to battle back global warming.I see on the list that many keep frogging back their work due to an error that they see in their work. The way I look at it, knitting lace is very much like quilting. In colonial times stitchers would put mistakes into their work so they would not be thought of being Godlike. At least with mistakes in it, it will be a chronicle of my learning to knit lace. I am still having a blast.Enjoy the day!
I am also new to this blogging experience but not to knitting. Knitting, needlepoint and other crafts have been a part of my life for decades. The number of sweaters in my closet and the items of needlepoint throughout my home attest to that. Today I am starting the blogging experience just a few days after starting a new knitting experience.
This morning I finished clue 1 as I was watching Wimbledon tennis. Below is the result of my work thus far:
This is the beginning of a great love affair for me - lace knitting! I have never tried it before and I have loved every second of it! Even when the one bead fell off the crochet hook prior to placement. I had never thought of trying lace and/or bead knitting until now. It took a post on the NETA (New England Textile Arts) mailing list for me to realize that this group even existed. Once I read about it, I was intrigued.
A solid color was suggested for the shawl. But ... I had this beautiful skein of Cobwebs (80% alpaca, 20% silk) in a beautiful color from Great Adirondack Yarn Co. So, I wound it up and started the swatch. When it came to getting the beads, I had to do a little hunting around. I went to a bead shop up in Stowe, VT hoping to find the desired size 8o beads. When I mentioned the specifics to the store owner, she didn't know what I was talking about. So, I walked around the shop and found just the right beads waiting for me in a jar. If I didn't get enough I will just have to go back to Stowe for more.
Everybody have a great 4th! Now, I will work on other projects (2 needlepoint, and 2 knitting) while I patiently wait for the next clue to be posted this coming Friday.
