Knitting For Artillery

The first clue for Mystery Stole 4 came out today. Though other people seem to really like it, I have to say that I am a wee bit disappointed. I loved MS3 (Swan Lake) because of the beads and the lacy wing. This one is starting out a little too geometric and stockinette heavy for me. I guess I just like the looks of, and enjoy knitting, very lacy lace. But, MS3 started out with a lot of stockinette, too, so I have to give it a chance. It's only the first clue, right?

Yesterday, I marbled up a whole slew of paper, as my oil paint stained fingers can attest to today. I managed to produce some decent ones amidst the bleah and just plain awful. I think that to make some really nice marbled paper you just have to use the sizing. I found that the paint just keeps moving around using only water to float it on. My colors started mixing together, as well. I think this may be one art that really requires watching someone else who knows what they're doing. Never-the-less, I covered the book, and it looks pretty cool. Plus, I have extra paper to recover the book when it gets trashed, which is bound to happen since it is a prop.

Oh, oh, oh! I felted the dumpling bag today. It is cute! DH calls it my cannonball bag. I have stuffed it with plastic grocery bags to give it that nice, round, large-caliber projectile appearance. I'd say it looks like about a 12 pounder, maybe more. Photos will appear tomorrow when I have the light to take them.

The End.

GKAS Project Specs (and What's Next)

The Goddess Knits Anniversary Shawl specs:

Size: 62" in diameter

Yarn: Jojoland Harmony - Colorway 06
(I used 2 balls, plus a little more of a third. This is a cobweb weight yarn. The colors are spun in an ombre fashion where one color is mixed with the next before it changes completely into the next, like Noro.)

Needles: Knitpicks Options - Size 4
(I love the points on these. You also have the option of threading a lifeline through the tightening hole and drawing it through the stitches as you knit. I used it for drawing the crochet cotton through so I could stretch it out for photos.)

Pattern choices:
Clue 1: A
Clue 2: B
Clue 3: D
Clue 4: D
Clue 4.5: Doubled again. Clue 2/A Rows 1-16
Clue 5: Edging as written. 192 repeats!
(I was going to morph clue 2 A and B together for Clue 4.5 as an enlarging option. It was just too much for me though. I think if I had made Clue 4.5 wider, the diameter of the shawl would have been larger and my edging points would have had more room to be blocked out at a diagonal, instead of being pulled straighter down in long points as I had to block them. By that time, each row was well over a thousand stitches. There are 192 repeats of the edging.)

This is a great pattern and it was a lot of fun to do it as a mystery lace knit-a-long. I highly recommend trying a Goddess Knits KAL for yourself.

Check out the other beautiful patterns on her website.

So what to do after all the excitement it over? Well, after I knit a little bit with some heavier yarn to clear my head, I'm going to start another KAL!

The Mystery Stole 4 KAL! Yay! My first mystery lace KAL was the MS3, the Swan Lake stole. It turned out beautifully and had beads! This year stole will also feature beads. I've been trying to match up beads and yarn. Here are some photos. *Disclaimer*-These photos have not been through SAP, the Sister Approval Process. I couldn't decide which one I liked better of the top two so I put them both in, even though I am not using these beads.

When I bought these beads, they looked just perfect. They are matte, but have a rainbow effect coating on them. (Gnatly, what are these kinds of beads called?) They match the yarn perfectly, but too perfectly--they blend in and disappear. I didn't even try a swatch with them.

Pretty, with feather, no?
I was sad about this until I remembered that my mom had given me some beads many years ago. They were left over from when she made some gorgeous crochet beaded clutch purses. She made them when I was 5 or 6 years old! These are some old beads! She bought them when my dad was stationed in Okinawa. There are three different kinds on this swatch. From the top is clear turquoise, then cobalt, then black. They had a shiny rainbow/oil slick color surface coating. (What are these called, Knatly?)

Can you all see them well enough in this photo to help me choose? I was wondering if I could use them all, you know, start with the darkest ones on the ends and get lighter? Opinions, please!