Are all swans this beautiful?

Me Wearing the Swan

Blocking

The Wing

I finished up the Mystery Stole 3! It is now called Swan Lake and quite pretty if I do say so myself. I have never done a Mystery anything before and I really enjoyed the process. I know a lot of people aren’t really digging on the wing and to be honest, I’m not 100% sold on it either but… it was all part of the mystery and that is what makes me love it. I know you can’t see a lot of the details in the photo of me but if I had gone with another picture you would not have seen Calvin and Annabelle. Be thankful Big Boy hesitated for a second otherwise the photo would have been Annabelle peeing. Oh, and the 'blocking' photo doesn't show Baxter walking on the stole or me holding my breath as he walked back across it to leave the room. Details:

Pattern: Swan Lake (or Mystery Stole 3). Melanie will eventually have this pattern for sale on her website, along with several variations to either make two wings or make it symmetrical. By choosing the black yarn I became Odile - the chick that steals the prince. Since I have never stolen a guy away from anyone, I am going to enjoy living vicariously through my stole. I mean, doesn't everyone want to be the bad girl on occasion?

Yarn: Zephyr lace weight in black. I bought an entire cone (5000 yards) from Sarah’s Yarns for $36.00. It was great to work with – very soft and got even softer with washing. I probably used less than 800 yards.

Needles: Size 3

Beads: They are a gunmetal color with silver lining. They are not perfectly round either. I like how they catch the light. I believe that if you are going to the work of putting on beads, you should be able to see them. I picked these up at a local bead store and I think they cost less than $3.00. I have plenty left over for another project.

A Quick Update

I know it has been a long time since I last blogged. Honestly, I haven’t had much to say (and those who know me well are laughing their asses off right now). Plus, I have actually been knitting. Where to begin…

Mystery Stole 3 is actually called Swan Lake. Yep, it has a wing. I am ready to begin clue 7 as soon as Big Boy gets me some toner for the printer. I like clues 1-4 and I like clues 5-7, I’m just not sure I like them together. I still plan to finish and wear the stole though. Here is the stole at the end of Clue 6 but not blocked.

I Do has become I Don’t. I started it and then somehow screwed up where the beginning of the round was and ended up with the pattern being off. So, I frogged. Then I started again in the smaller size but 20 rows in found that I had started in the wrong spot on the chart and I had not been decreasing. Plus, I wasn’t getting the lacy look I wanted. I think I might use the yarn for the Ribbed Lace Bolero instead.

Tomato is starting to ripen (I crack myself up!). This pattern was originally in a book but was offered for free to those who are subscribed to Knitting Daily. I initially thought it might be too big but I tried it on the other night and it is actually a little snug. It’s cotton it will eventually be too big. I think I might make one in Cotton Fleece for my SIL.



Lady Eleanor is STILL on the needles. I try to do a few rectangles per night. Only eight more skeins left and I will be done!


Print O’ The Wave is in the same place as the last time I took photos. The lace of MS3 has taken over and I found myself getting confused with two lace projects at one time.

Finally, Piglet’s Christmas Stocking. Yes, I started this in February! I am now working on the heel flap. I sure hope this is big enough!


And speaking of the Piglet… poor baby has had bronchitis. Apparently it started from a virus that he kindly shared with his mother. He was feeling well enough to go to the beach last week, for the first time. That is the opening photo. He has his first tooth coming in and he is quite proud that he knows how to eat table food now. He enjoys sharing his Cheerios with Annabelle and she enjoys taking them.

Rockin' Girl Bloggers

Sometimes you just have a good day. This morning during my blog roundup I discovered that Jen named me a Rockin’ Girl Blogger. I’ve always known I was Rockin’ but have been waiting for Big Boy others to admit it. LOL! So, now I have to bestow the title to 5 other female bloggers. I had to get more coffee before making this decision. Here goes:

Susan – because after this move she deserves a happy title! And because I need to stay in good graces so Boogie will marry Piglet :-)
Janna – because she has the cutest cat pictures. And, she is a genuinely nice person.
Joan – Joan keeps me in stitches; the laughing kind! She helped get me addicted to Court TV with her graphic descriptions of the Nurse Hatchet trial.
Minni-Knits – the girl approaches dating with a sense of humor.
Amy – the best Coffee Swap partner a girl could have. Plus, she knit all those dang fish – she deserves a special title!

Yesterday I got to go shopping – ALONE. Ok, it was just to Bed, Bath and Beyond and Target but still, it was – ALONE! Our BB&B has changed. They have a whole new Beyond section that contains beauty items AND a whole section dedicated to travel sizes. I love me some minis. To top off my good day I scored some new pillows for $12.99 each. Over the years I have purchased the $75, down filled, hypo allergenic, kissed by Elvis pillows and they all end up exactly the same way so I figured this time around I would save a little money. Target called my name. It didn’t have to call loudly. It is Back-to-School season and for someone like me the school supply aisle is like Mecca. The smell of new notebooks, the shiny new pens, the perfect erasers, the bright sticky notes… Mmmmm. There are so many cool things now. When I was a kid the best thing to come around was the Trapper Keeper and the erasable ink pens – WooHoo!

Oh, back to the good day. We scored a jumperoo for Piglet for $30. He loves it. Mostly he loves lights and music that come from shaking the bear. I love the Off button :-) Last night we took him to Chili’s where my normally shy little man became sociable and provided entertainment for all. When he wasn’t trying to share his beads with the people at the next table he was sucking on his French Fry. He was also trying to give his beads to the young waitresses. I informed him that A) he is way too young to share his beads; B) this is not Mardi Gras or even New Orleans for that matter; and C) if he ever does give out his beads, for real, I DO NOT want to know about it. You know you have reached a new level of insanity when your normally shy husband is willing to sing out loud in public to entertain your child :-)

I got in a few rows of MS3 without tinking. Now that is a really good day! Not to mention our temps were a tolerable, even chilly, 85 degrees.

Here is a truly finished photo of Angelina. I opted to go with the martini pin. If you ever need some cool stuff go to Ruby Vegas over on Etsy. The service was outstanding. I got it in two days and they sent a free pin! It is a sample of a pin they have coming out in the fall and they are trying to get the word out. Remember how I said that the sweater grew with washing? I do have to pull the sleeves up when wearing. This is not a sweater to wear during diaper changes!

MS3 Clue 3

Here is the MS3 all the way up to the end of Clue 3. According to the designer we are now 1/3 of the finished length.

Rated R for Language and Violence

Sweet Moses in a basket… I would like to crucify whoever created lace and made it look so irresistible to me. I started on Clue #2 and worked merrily for 8 rows. I sat down to work on row 109 and got through it just fine. I was inserting a lifeline at row 110 and started getting cocky. Do I really need a lifeline every 10 rows? Who are these crazy people who have to keep ripping? This isn’t brain surgery y’know. Row 111. Yep, that is the one that did me in. Or was it? How could I possibly have an extra stitch when row 109 worked out just fine? So, I tink. Stitch by stitch I check to see if that is the one where I went wrong. NOPE. I tink row 110 because just maybe I didn’t drop a purl and made two instead. NOPE. Row 109. I think I see the mistake. There, right at the end. I just have to tink these few stitches and then I’ll be spot on… except… that’s not it. I tink further. Wait, what’s this? Well, I don’t know what it was, but clearly it is where I went astray. Whew! I fix the mistake and set about finishing off the row when… hold up… now I don’t have enough stitches. FUCK! Wait… something looks… funky… it’s a DROPPED STITCH. Oh bloody hell. I don’t really know what the stitch was in the three rows it has dropped and I don’t really care. I work it back onto the needle, finish off the row and set about counting… 97, 98, 99, um, 100? FUCK! How did retrieving the dropped stitch take me back to having an extra stitch? I tink… stitch… by… stitch… and there it is… a K2tog that somehow ended up only dropping one of the stitches.

Finally, after many, MANY hours I have finished clue #2. Right now she is doing a little light blocking so I can get a good look at her. Anyone want to wager a guess on the theme? Well, I don’t really care – I love it no matter what it is called.

I thought we could use a little summer happy. Here are my roma tomatoes fresh from my little garden, along with some cucumbers. The big cucumber… well, the photo does not do it justice. It was HUGE. Unfortunately it was not edible, as it had become hollow in the middle and very tough. English cukes are not supposed to be that large.

A little update

Believe it or not, knitting has been taking place. I am at row 82 of Mystery Stole 3. I really want to be caught up with everyone else; not because it is a race, but because what I see is so pretty that I want mine to look that way too. It isn’t a race! I hope to finish clue 1 today so I will only be 1 clue behind. If you haven’t checked out Melanie’s other patterns, please do. They are gorgeous! Hanami and Moon Dance are my favs. Of course, all lace knitting has to take place when most of the house is sleeping!

I have problems with blocking. Quite often I get pulling on the straight edge and it really bugs me. I know, it is my Type A coming out – I totally dig straight lines. Yesterday I went in search of welding rods. I didn’t find them. Neither did Jenn. This afternoon I am going to try the sporting goods store to see if I can find a solution while I am looking for sneakers. “Yes, I would like this shoe in a size 7 and BTW, do you have anything that will help my stole look pretty”.

Angelina is in a time out of sorts. I blocked her last week and well, she grew. A LOT! How do I get her back to normal?

Ok, kids. Piglet and I are off to have lunch with Big Boy and then head to the sporting good store .

Editor's Note: Blogger will not allow me to put in a title today. Ugh!

My cone of Zephyr and 2 different beads to try

The swatch with the flash

Swatch without the flash - can you see the beads?

Yarn – check
Beads – check
Needles – check
Pattern – check
Crochet Hook – che… oh crap!

I was so excited to get home yesterday and find my yarn had arrived. I sat down to swatch. I needed to see which beads would look best with my yarn and which needle was going to give the best fabric. I have a little, itty, bitty crochet hook. I mean, it’s the size of a pin, it has to be the right size for the beads. Ugh! I tried using dental floss instead of a crochet hook but that was just painful. Bright and early this morning I headed off to Michael’s in search of the world’s smallest crochet hook. I have two different beads and I think I like the one on the right side of the photo best. It blends into the yarn but yet reflects the light enough to be noticeable when you want to be noticed.

In the meantime I swatched for Tomato. I would like to use Sonata because I have it on hand. I just have to get the numbers together and plug them into the hand dandy gauge multiplier.

It's All a Mystery to Me

I did it. I caved and joined the Mystery Stole #3. I saw the results of the first clue and could not help myself. Yesterday morning Piglet and I went to the bead store to pick out some pretty beads. I ended up with two different colors and will have to make a final decision once the yarn arrives. I am going to buy a cone of the Zephyr in black. I think it will be beautiful and elegant. Perfect to wear to… well, play dates at the park or um, the grocery store. But, I have to clean up some WIP's before I can start anything new.

I am doing the Jitterbug this week. Big Boy is glad to know it is just socks! Details:
Yarn: Jitterbug in Alizarine. This yarn is the best ever. I didn’t even use a full skein. I still have enough to make a pair of socks for a little girl – I think.
Needles: Size 1 Knit Picks Options
Pattern: Oblique Openwork from Sensational Knitted Socks. The heel is Eye of Partridge. Notice that the foot is a little different? Well, I did reverse stockinet on the foot so that the smooth side is on my foot and more comfy.
Size: I made socks for an 8” circumference foot. I did not take the leg of the socks all the way to the knee because I don’t like them that high.

What will you be doing on this day of America’s independence? We are doing America’s favorite pastime – shopping! We are getting Piglet some independence from his too tight shorts and getting ourselves some independence from the smell of dogs. For this we need a trip to the outlet mall and Yankee Candle store. At least we are getting some exercise!