Blocking the stole

I couldn't fit it all in to one shot, so here are both ends. I borrowed some stainless steel welding wires which worked pretty well. It blocked to roughly 18" by 78" which is why it hangs over the end of the mattress!
I'm glad it's done, although it feels as if something is missing now, I suppose Mystic Waters will have to fill the gap. I do like it, but as the rows get longer, progress seems very slow.

Secret of the Stole finished

It needs blocking, but it's done. I really enjoyed knitting this and I like it very much. I have no idea what the theme is at the moment, so I'll wait to find out after Friday. I only used just over 100g of the mystery yarn, so maybe I should overdye the rest and use it for something else. How many people use the same colour yarn for multiple lace projects? After all I still have the scarf from Victorian Lace Today to finish, using this same yarn.


I've been spinning the dyed BFL and it's going quite well. Since I seem to be getting rather thin singles, I've decided to go for a 3 ply, but not navajo plied which I find hard to be consistent with. One bobbin is done and I've started the second. This could end up being a muddy mess colourwise, but we'll see. If I don't get enough yardage for socks, I'll rethink my options.

Back to normal

Phew, it's been quite a week. The computer stuff is almost all sorted out now, thank goodness. I thought I'd include a picture of the motherboard for posterity. Apparently there used to be a component to the left of the black cylinder.

I've been dyeing some superwash Blue Faced Leicester fibres, with a view to creating another pair of socks. Not very imaginative, but I'm a bit short of ideas for small quantities of yarn. The thought of spinning enough for a sweater is daunting for me yet. This is beautifully soft, however the dye job didn't turn out quite like I anticipated, but never mind. At least I have something nice and colourful to spin now....

..unlike this cashmere/merino laceweight which I've been plying like crazy all week. I finally got to the end of my 100g and made a skein. Curly isn't it? It's drying now after being dunked in a strong detergent solution to get rid of the spinning oil - the water was filthy. I'm pleased to say that it looks pretty good and feels much softer for it.

The picture is a bit fuzzy, but I've got onto clue 7 of the Secret of the Stole, it's a very pleasant knit. The end is in sight now and then I'll have to concentrate on Mystic waters which is going a bit slower. I've just started clue 3 and the rows are getting longer which isn't a surprise, but it's amazing how long each one takes.

I'm back - sort of

My life on the net came to an abrupt halt a week last Friday when my computer suffered catastrophic failure. The power supply went up with a bang and took the motherboard (and possibly other things) with it. The last week has been spent deciding what to get as replacements and then fitting everything and the upshot is that I have a newer, faster machine. Of course it needed a reinstall of everything, so I'm not done yet. Still I'm up and running which is great. I've been missing my online life and I didn't even get much knitting done which would have been some compensation. That said I did finish a sock earlier today, and the lace knitting is progressing: Secret of the Stole is nearly 75% done, and I finished clue 2 of Mystic waters.

I'm still looking for the camera software, so pictures next time hopefully.

Yarn for lace

I think I cracked it! Here is my small (balanced) skein of plied cashmere/merino. I know how many treadles to the foot length it needs to achieve balance. It's a lot. Eight. It's going to take ages, but it'll be worth it. This yarn is really soft and just the right thickness for lace knitting. I don't get on so well with the very fine yarns.


Clue 5 of Secret of the Stole is done just in time for the next clue tomorrow. Hopefully there will be some interesting patterning to do. I got a little fed up with all those bubbles. I think they look fine, they were just a bit repetitive to do.

Mystic waters is growing slowly, I'm about 2/3 through the second clue, and I'm going to need a much longer needle soon. Ah well, I suppose it's a good excuse to buy more Addi lace needles. It's a shame the Knitpicks set doesn't go down to 3.25mm or I could use them.

Doing the twist

Three of the current WIPs are lacy knits. The Secret of the Stole and Mystic waters are making progress. I'll probably take pictures at the end of the current clues. The Kaalund scarf has grown to about two feet, so quite a bit to go. My Knitpicks Options set arrived on Saturday, and I'm really impressed with it. The points are nicely pointy for those awkward manoeuvres, and the join is really smooth. My other project is just a simple sock, very mindless knitting. I'm looking for a sweater pattern which maybe doesn't exist for the alpaca/silk I recently frogged, so I may have to design one myself, although I don't feel much inspiration at the moment.



I'm trying to make a cone of cashmere/merino which I bought recently into useable yarn. It is a very fine single which looks okay on the cone, albeit very fine. However, it is extremely overspun. The picture shows, from the top, the yarn straight from the cone; the same stuff washed; two ply without enough twist washed; two ply with more twist washed; and at the bottom, how it behaves when allowed to twist as it likes. So, it needs a lot more plying twist than I've given it yet. I'm hopeful that if I can get it right, I'll end up with nice soft lace weight yarn at about 800m per 100g.

Still up to speed

Clue 4 of Secret of the Stole is done, I even managed to do a bit more in order to lengthen it. The stitch marker shows the extent of the pattern as charted. It measures 18" x 37" unblocked. The next clue is released tomorrow - I hope there aren't too many more of the circular motifs to do! I know that particular pattern by heart now.
My cold is much better now, just a bit of a cough and some sneezing, which is a relief.

I've been spending some time in Ravelry, but the thought of going through my stash is overwhelming. For the time being, I'll just catalogue the yarns which are easy to get to!