Progress Report

At the risk of repeating myself, I'm still here. I've been finding that my knitting has been sadly affected by my educational situation. Professors are so rude. They assign papers, and assignments and exams willy nilly with no respect for a person's knitting time. What can you do? I have been finding some time, but not so much for blogging. So if I actually have anybody still with me, here is the payoff :)

Mystery Stole 4 has been named. It will henceforth be known as the Serendipity Stole. And here is my progress:

Clues 1 through 6. That's all of them. This is, however only half of the stole. This has been set aside so I can go back and knit clues 1 through 5 again. Then comes the grafting fun. How bout some shots of this section?

This makes it hard to see the beads, but I like how the stitches pop.

Some diamonds. Cat hair is extra ;)

This makes me think of fish. I don't know if that was the intent, but there could be a seaweed, underwater thing going on with this stole. I love how the edges are all wavy.

So I've finished knitting clue 1 again, and have started on clue 2. Hopefully I'll get through that one by the end of the weekend (2.5 hours of Coronation Street on Sundays are prime knitting time) and can get on to clue 3. I think that's where we left off before, so that's where I'll try and get back to photographing it. I'm hoping that I can get it ready to be worn during the festive season. Crossing fingers. I have two assignments due in November, so we'll see. Knitting is excellent for procrastination.

In other project news, I got nothing. I'm pretty much focused on the Serendipity Stole for now. One project at a time makes for slow blogging, but it's about all I can handle right now. Hasn't stopped me from shopping though:

Tidepool Heather, and Green Tea Heather

Eggplant and Sweet Potato. All Knit Picks Palette. These are planning on being some mittens, gloves and or socks. Someday.

I will admit to some stealth knitting which will get some blogtime in December or the new year. Enough about that for now. Never know who's reading. So. Back to work.

Stole progress

And not much else...

I'm a little late in posting this. I actually finished the knitting on Sunday, but it was miserable weather until Tuesday, and today is the first time I've been home long enough to sit down for a minute. I'm still plugging away at my Mystery Stole. Here is is after the second clue:

I love how it's turning out. I am ploughing through my bead supply super quickly. I hope that the number of beads slows down a bit through the main body of the stole. I love the beads, but I'm not sure I can get more of the same. And I still have to knit the second half.

Oh well. I'm too busy to worry about it. I'm going to be traveling this weekend, so I'm hoping to get some non-lace knitting done on the Greyhound. Hopefully, I'll have something new to share next week. Till then...

Updates

So, as of Friday Mystery Stole 4 is underway. I have been waiting impatiently for this for a while because this time I was going to use actual lace weight yarn. This terrified me. As you can see, though, so far so good:

This is the first clue for MS4. And a closer look at the centre beaded motif:

Pretty, pretty, pretty. This sort of thing is always a little bit stressful, what with the not knowing what the finished project is going to look like. But if this pattern continues like this, I have no fears.

MS4 is not, however, the only project on the go. Here's the other thing I've been focussed on this week:

My Mr Greenjeans cardigan is coming along nicely. I'd really like to get this finished before fall hits it's full swing. So far, I love this sweater. Just look at that ribbing:

Okay, so it's not the best photo, but trust me. It's fantastic!

With that, I'm off back to the stack of DVDs that await me. I'm waiting for more MS4.

Greenjeans

So, as promised, there's new progress and new stash enhancements.

First up: Embossed Leaves sock. I'm not happy with the fit. As you can see the toe is way too long, which was unavoidable because of the way the pattern flows into the toe decreases.

I knit this on 2.75 mm needles as the pattern called for that size. I think that I'll frog it and try again with something in a 2.25 mm needle. I think that'll make a big difference in the fit. Failing that, this pattern isn't for me.

Moving on. I cast on a new sock instead of fixing the Embossed Leaves one.

Hedera by Cookie A. I adore her patterns. I've knit several before, and there will be more. The yarn is Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in the Blackberry colourway and so far, I'm in love with this sock. The pattern is so incredibly simple, and yet, it creates such a beautiful effect. Love it!

Mystery Stole 4 begins Friday, September 5. I am now prepared. I showed you my beads last week, now here is my yarn:

Knit Picks Shadow in the Hot Rod Heather colour. Red is notoriously hard to photograph accurately, but on my monitor, this picture is pretty good. Friday can't come fast enough :)

So, I found a diversion. In the same shipment from Knit Picks, I got my first set of Options needles. So I cast on for a project that's been waiting for a while now:

This is the beginning of Mr Greenjeans by Amy Swenson. The yarn is Briggs and Little Tuffy in the Blue Jeans colour. I think that's appropriate, Blue Jeans/Greenjeans. It's fate :)

One last thing I got was this:

This is an experiment. I have a gift knit on my horizon that I want to be easily washable, but pretty and soft and natural all mashed together. So I ordered one ball of Knit Picks Swish Worsted superwash wool to test knit and wash before I bought a large project worth of yarn. It's the Clematis Heather colour and is really pretty. I think I'll get more of this colour for something for me... after I recover from my tuition payment.

So there you have it. Lots going on. More to come. Hopefully with some regularity. I'll keep you posted.

Where did August go? I was pretty preoccupied through the majority of this month, but it's the last week of August already and school starts next week! Why is it that the time always speeds by when you don't want it to? On the plus side, since I wrote my final, I've had actual knitting time! Behold:

Finished Annetrelac socks!

To recap quickly, because this pair of socks took a ridiculously long time to finish. The pattern is: Annetrelac Socks by Sandy Beadle and appeared in the Holiday 2007 issue of Interweave Knits. The yarn is Cherry Tree Hill Sockittome in the Misty Moor colourway which I love! I knit these on 2.5 mm needles (dpn for the entrelac, 2 circs for the stockinette). I'm very happy with how these turned out.

Onward, however. Just in time for school to start back up again, Mystery Stole 4 will begin! I'm waiting impatiently for my yarn to arrive, but in the meantime I'll share these:

Very tricky to photograph, beads. I tried in the tube and you couldn't see that there were individual objects inside. This is the best I could do. The yarn I've ordered is a heathered red, so these beads, which are actually a hematite colour only clear, ought to pop. I hope. They should also sparkle. They have some cut spots on them to catch the light. I'm expecting the yarn to arrive later this week or early next. I've got my fingers crossed.