What I knit on my summer vacation pt. I

While down south, when I wasn't dealing with the kids, or when I wasn't lazying around watching TV, I knitted--actually, I knitted while dealing with kids, lazying about, and watching television. I finished another bib and worked on Eunny's Print O' Wave stole. I originally got the Misti Alpaca to do the Mystery Stole II, but as the clues got printed, I realized that I wanted a lacy lace stole, not one that was knitted fabric with a few YO patterns. I do like the MSII stole (especially the pictures I saw on the yahoo group--gorgeous!), just not right now.

I then hit the intarweb...what a wild wacky world...where all your dreams can come true. Anyway, I searched a number of sites and found Eunny's beautiful stole pattern. It's supposed to be an easy pattern -- if I can make a Liesel scarf this should be a cakewalk given that it's only a 9 row repeat. I'll put some markers in...first mistake. I ripped it by the 5th row. Oh, yes. Step back and realize that although all the stitches at the end of the row end up totalling 80 stitches, umm...well, the markers I so diligently placed, well they move!? Now, why didn't I think of that before. I literally knitted and ripped it 2-3 times before I got it, then it was a smack on the head and a 'doh'.

I then searched 'Eunny and wave' and found that there was a Yahoo group, which I then joined. I also found that there were much discussions about this stole so I spent time reading that too. Finally, I looked at the joining the two center pieces together and vacillated between knitting the pattern as written or knitting a big long piece.

Many bloggers were in the same boat regarding the seam down the center. Now, I'm a symmetrical type of a girl. Given there's one side, I'm compulsively trying to make sure there's another that matches...sort of. For example, socks with variegated yarn, yes, I do make an attempt at trying to sort of match the two socks (that's not to say that by the end, they do match -- but I try). And I did like the waves flowing downward. But then I kept going to the center of the pattern and how there's a visible connection seam. Well, that just won't do. A blogger thought she was going to knit an additional pannel to 'fix' it, but well, I've just not looked at enough lacework yet to figure out what pattern would look nicely there. So, my solution is to just keep on knitting...
After that issue was resolved, I'm continuing to knit. But again, as this is my first true knitted lace item (don't count worsted weight scarves or bookmarkers), I'm stressing about how big and long it's going to be. Again, Eunny has written how if you use laceweight yarn, it'll turn out huge at 70in long...BUT I like scarves/wraps/stoles long. On one hand, I really want to believe the lace knitting gurus, but on the other hand, as a scientist, I compulsively 'do the experiment' to confirm results. You may think it's reinventing the wheel, but as a scientist, you need to confirm published results before you build on them...yeah right, you should do a gauge swatches too!

Since I'm knitting one long panel, I have a ways to go before I decide whether to veer even farther away from the original pattern...

So, right now I'm on 21/34 pattern repeats. But I read that the edging is what kills ya.

I should add that it's being knitted on #4 bamboo straights mostly and somewhat knitted on SB circs when I need to add a lifeline. Why not Inox or Addis? Don't have #4's in either, that's why. Also, that blue bit on the needles, that's the curly doodad in action