Frustration

I am feeling a little frustrated at the moment. I have finished Clue 6 - the penultimate clue - of the Mystery Stole. It is unusual, it is beautiful, I am dying to see how it finishes. The final clue is to be published on Friday - when I shall be driving down to the West Midlands, 200 miles or so, and so won't be able to download the file until Tuesday when I return.
Oh well, never mind. Since I finished my Fir Cone Shawl (oh yes I did!), I've been knitting Hanami, also designed by the talented Melanie in Honeysuckle Cashmere by Colourmart, with Japanese silver lined clear beads. For a member of Jon's family - so that can't come with, as we are staying with the intended recipient. I think I need to think a little...
I'm now about 1300th in line for Ravelry - so maybe I shall be a little more organised once I am on there for everyone to see? But then again, maybe not!
Nuff for now. Photos soon...

A quick giggle

Just a quick giggle from a fellow MS3-er...

http://thepassionatemind.blogspot.com/2007/08/how-many-does-it-take.html

And I'm now less than 2000th in the Ravelry queue - 1891 ahead of me in line!

Happy Dance!

I'm doing a happy dance today! Look what Anne at Knitspot has published today (please look, please do - NAYY) - her Honeybee Stole! Isn't it beautiful? I was tempted by the triangular shawl, but heard a rumour of rectangular loveliness, so waited patiently. Now what I need to do is find something to knit it in (hint hint Dee & Mr P - something in an amber-y honey coloured 2 ply Eva would be divine, if only I could get to it first!) Of course, this may test my new-found confidence in my ability to knit lace (I just typo-ed "knot" there twice - is my subconscious trying to tell me something?) - it seems most of my "To Do"s at the moment involve laciness - although a couple of them are for Christmas presents - so I think I may be excused...

I also treated myself to a couple of Posh Yarns last night, which has me happy dancing even more. Lucia in Garden Party (which may end up a Christmas present, once knitted, but then again, maybe not), and Emily in Beryl - what vivid greens! I nearly bought something with a similar green in it at Woolfest, but when I looked closely, it had lots of joins in it, which isn't really what I want in my socks. I know I can rest assured that my PY will be one long thread, which suits me much better.

And I'm nearly in the centre of the edging on my fircone shawl. Can't wait to finish and get it blocked out and worn! I must concentrate on that, and not on the future loveliness, or else my magpie brain will start thinking "must knit the pretty..." and I will neglect the poor shawl.

Clown Feet and Photos

Well - Jon's socks are finished. I used Regia DK I bought at Woolfest from Web of Wool, and their DK sock pattern, although I used the rib option, hence why the socks appear to be for someone with very skinny, long feet!

And I have some photos of my Field of Flowers Shawl - some from when it was blocking, a photo of the finished article, and some close ups of the stitch patterns. I used Posh Yarns Eva in Just Peachy, and it worked beautifully.

I'm loving how it looks and drapes, and am now so looking forward to using it for "Leda's Dream".

Talking of the wonderful Melanie, and her designs, I finally have my pictures of completed Clue 4. Lots of Cat's Paw, which I loved:

And, Ta-Da! I finished Clue 5 yesterday - the stole is now turning to make a "wing" shape, hence why it looks a bit bobbly. Some of the MS3-ers aren't keen, but I think I'm going to love it - and if not, well, someone's got their Christmas box sorted out already!

So - lots of knitting done, but still lots to do - my fir cone shawl needs finishing, then there's the Icelandic Shawl, then, Leda's Dream, then Hanami, and someday my prince will come with my Ravelry Invite (only 2246 ahead of me now - woo hoo!), and then that's my evenings gone for a few weeks, while I play! But loving it...

Claire x

Delayed Update

I've been meaning to blog, but have been putting it off as I've not downloaded my photos from my camera yet. And still haven't, but if I put things off any longer, I'll be writing War and Peace.
Jeff Fest was brilliant. Great bands, great night. The Quireboys were on top form to finish the night, and took me way back to a muddy field in Leicestershire in the early 90's. Got a kiss off Spike as well - and this probably isn't the place to mention I had a bit of a thing for him back in my youth...
I had the next day off work, supposedly to recover, and did my first ever blocking - my Field of Flowers shawl in Posh Yarn Eva "Just Peachy". I thought it was pretty to start with, but once I had it streeeeetched and pinned on the bed (see - had to get up early) the lace took on its own life. I'd heard how lace is transformed, and was loving the shawl in its unblocked state, but after a soak and a stretch, it looks fantastic (if I say so myself).
Later, I got cracking on my MS3 Clue 4. I broke off late that night to go and queue for my Harry Potter - which I had finished by Saturday teatime! Then back to MS3, with a quick finish on Monday night. Pictures will follow, I promise. This clue should have been the easiest for me - it was a relaxing repeating pattern I've done before, but I probably tinked this one more than all the others put together! I think I got complacent, and thought I could do it without concentrating. Clue 5 and Theme Reveal this Friday!
Then, I've started a pair of socks for Jon in some Regia from Woolfest. One down, and part way down the cuff of the second.
Finally, tonight, I've started the edging on my Fir Cone Shawl. And I'm finding it tricksy. I'm sure I'll get into it though!
Just a quicky - but proof I'm still here.
Love,
Claire x

Another FO...

I got a little bit itchy the other night, and actually finished something off! I now have a pair of socks in Eva from Posh Yarn in the colourway "Harem", and I love them. I just knitted them plain so it shows off the variagation well. The socks are slightly different colours - they were from 2 skeins, which looked exactly the same skeined up, but knitted differently, but I love them. Slightly odd socks for a slightly odd woman! And as I tend to not be at my best in the morning I have worn odder! Will post piccies here and on the Posh Yarn group later in the week. And I'm now expecting some beautiful laceweight from Dee in "Morning Star" - so my fingers were fast enough on Sunday - that's already allocated to "Leda's Dream" which was the first "Mystery Stole" - I fell in love with the pattern on Melanie's blog, and as she says, I've fallen down the lace rabbit hole.
Still persevering with the Fir Cone shawl - it will be worth it, it will. It's just that I'm now 27 repeats in, and itching to start on the edging - but I want it to be big, and snuggly, and to wrap me up in, so I need to be patient. Not one of my few virtues, unfortunately. Little Miss Instant Gratification, me.
And I'm planning to block my Field of Flowers on Friday. I'm out on Thursday night, at Jeff Fest in Newcastle (The Quireboys are headlining, which makes me very happy), and have decided not to inflict myself on my work colleagues on Friday - gone are the days when I could fall into bed at 3, and still be up for work the next day. Not to mention the next clue for MS3 is out on Friday, and it's a biggie - and with the new Harry Potter out on Saturday, I need to start managing my time (or finding another couple of days to put on the week!).
Nuff for now.

Claire x

Waiting...

I'm blogging tonight while waiting for the Posh Yarn shop to open. Dee is one of the nicest traders I've "met" online (and I have met some really nice people, and had really good service) and I keep returning again and again to play "Fastest Fingers First" on a Sunday evening. Dee has an excellent selection of yarns, all very reasonably priced, and in beautiful colours. Then, in addition to all that, she packages them up in pink, posts them out almost before you've finished paying for them, and is extremely pleasant and friendly to boot! This week, I've been drooling over laceweights since the preview went up, and am hoping to get my paws on one or two lots. There's one in particular I have in mind to use for "Leda's Dream" which was the pattern for Mystery Stole 1 by Melanie.

I am still knitting Melanie's third Mystery Stole, and have now completed Clue 3. The clues are nice and manageable (100 rows for clue 1, and 50 each for clues 2 & 3). Next week's will be a challenge - at 135 rows, it's designed to compensate for the Harry Potter launch, and should last us for 2 weeks. The real killer for me is that Clue 7 & final is due to come out on Friday 17th August - and as I am driving down to the Midlands that day to see Jon's folks, and go to the V Festival, it means I shall be clue-less until the Tuesday! (All funny comments on being clue-less to be swallowed, please). We should know the theme of what we are knitting in about 3 weeks' time, but at the moment, I'm enjoying the knit. Looking at the charts, it's not something I would have attempted if I had seen it all together, but I'm glad I signed up - it's introduced me to reading charts, Jaggerspun Zephyr, and beading - none of which I had ever considered before.

Short post for now. Here's the pictures of MS3 so far.

Love

Claire xxx