Mystery Stole #3, part one

June 29, 2007

Okay, the first clue has been posted for the Mystery Stole 3 KAL. After jumping in with both feet (eyes closed and nose plugged, too), the first order of business was to choose a yarn. As I said before, I had some on hand, but for some reason I absolutely had to buy some more laceweight when I was making my elann order. Here's what I got:

That's elann's Camilla (cotton/linen blend dk weight) that's destined to be the Zigzag sweater from knitty - and then overdyed. Most Definitely.

And 2 skeins of Baby Lace Merino, ostensibly for the KAL. (Click the pic for bigger and better)

Okay. So I swatched with the vanilla mercerized coned cotton (that's mentioned in my previous post) on a US4 circular. Then I did a swatch of the merino on a US5. Hmmm. Lace needs pointier tips than my ol' Boye needles have and the merino was not as impressive as I would have hoped. I bit the bullet and went to my LYS and got an Addi circular.

I admit it, I suffered a little bit of sticker shock (though I thought I was prepared). I also have to admit that there is definitely some truth to the old adage, "You get what you pay for." These are nice. Pointy (but not lethal). Smooth joins, un-kinky cord. All you "real" knitters out there? You're right.

Back to the swatching - I did up a swatch of the merino on the new Addi's. For my first two swatches I suffered through the first three or four garter stitch rows - the yarn is so light and fluffy that it was difficult for me to keep it even.

The MS3 group had been talking about different types of lifelines; one (or more) of the suggestions was to use one of the detachable cords from the Denise or KnitPicks set. A lightbulb went on over my head and I decided to try the "cord lifeline" concept with my cast on row. I cast on loosely onto the un-pointy Boye, then slid the stitches to the cable and slid the Addi tip into the loops on the cord (kinda like one of those sock toe cast ons, you know?). Then I knit the first row, sliding the stitch off the left needle to the right, ignoring the cable.

(Overexposed lap shot)


What I ended up with was a wonderfully even "first" row. Thinking things like "Beginner's Luck", I did another row. Cool.

Nice, even stitches, with the bonus of something to 'hang onto' while knitting. Between that discovery and the pointier needles, the third swatch was a breeze.


Okay. Swatches done. Soaked, blocked (again using different suggestions from the groups), dried.



When I laid them out for Mr. Wonderful to comment on and choose, he didn't even let me get the request out and he plunked his finger on the vanilla cotton, saying, "THIS one." Well!

You know what? That's the one I've liked from the get-go. It gleams. Though it's fingering weight rather than lace weight, it will be perfect. Really - the other stuff is veddy pitty and I'd impress my own socks off by doing it, but to be realistic the cotton is more "my style".

Confession time: If I'd gotten a 40+" Addi instead of the 24" (all they had, btw), I probably would have cast on BOTH yarns and just did two stoles.

Next entry? To bead or not to bead.

Labels: knitting, MS3

permalink 2 Comments:

At 6/29/2007 5:35 PM,  Anonymous Babbled Back:  

Hello,
I love, love your mercerized
vanilla cotton. Would you mind
telling me what brand it is and
where you got it? I am so a
mercerized cotton lover.
Great swatch.
Carol Ann

At 6/29/2007 7:21 PM,  Fiber Babble Babbled Back:  

Thank you, Carol Ann! The yarn came from an eBay seller - I went and checked and they're still in business. The seller id is knititems.

I got two cones of the vanilla, each 1000 yds. Looks like I'll use about 3/4 cone for this project.

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