Enough

Enough is enough. I've abandoned my Mystery Stole. The charts are giving me a headache, I'm not enjoying the knitting and I hate the colour I chose. Also, today Melanie revealed the general shape of the final design and... it's not for me (which is nothing against Melanie or her designing prowess -- it's just not for me). Why beat myself up over something I'm never going to wear and probably never going to finish? We shall never speak of it again.

Still Here

Wow, I didn't mean to drop out for so long. The lack of posting in these parts is pretty much due to a complete lack of crafting, thrifting or anything else that I usually write about. Chalk it up to summer, I guess. While so many bloggers have been writing about how glorious their season has been, mine has actually been pretty trying thus far. I'm not good in the heat and the hot summer was one of the few reasons that I was glad to leave Toronto last year. Unfortunately, there have been record highs here and since it's usually not this hot in these parts, air conditioning is scarce (and unheard of in homes). So, I've been sweating it out. Literally.

Here's my poor Mystery Stole, over a week into the two-week Clue #4. This clue goes to row 335 and I'm a measly 227 rows in. With me averaging about six rows every other day, it's clear that I'm not going to finish by Friday. I've got to push myself though, or I'm going to put this thing away and never pick it up again. Must finish the lace. Even if it takes me through September.

Mystery Stole: Chuggin' Along

And, after a week of few words, we're back to regular scheduled programming. I must say, all that colour week business was a nice distraction from having to update you on Mystery Stole Three. The above picture is the stole as it looks right this minute -- the purple string is my lifeline, which was put in as I started Clue #3. I did pretty okay with Clue #2, making one big mistake with that diagonal line that goes towards the middle, but choosing to ignore that particular blunder. Then another blunder was made, some stitches dropped in the tinking and... I had to frog back to the lifeline I put in after Clue #1. Thirty-three rows, gone. It was devastating. But at least I got to correct the unwanted zig-zag in that diagonal part.

So, I'm glad for lifelines. But I'm still not so sure if lace is for me. I do like the homework aspect of this project, but quite honestly, I think it's the only thing that's keeping me going. I'm not too happy with my choice of white yarn (so contrary to my style) and I'm not totally sure that the lace is my style either (Aaron's uttered the words "old lady-ish" a couple of times when inspecting the stole). But, I'm going to keep at it. As long as the weather agrees that is -- it's been so hot here that the yarn was sticking to my hand leaving it's fluffy halo behind. Gross.

W.I.P. Friday: The Stole

Oh, Mystery Stole. I think somewhere in the neighbourhood of 6000 people are doing Mystery Stole now. Unsurprisingly, I cancelled my subscription to the digest emails because it was just too crazy and quite honestly, there was very little information that I found very useful. But, I'm happily knitting along, just now in a more solitary way, which decreases the crazy pressure to crank out this lace stole.

Here's what I realized after knitting clue #1 (which I completed on Monday): lace isn't really my craft. I'm going to stick with this project, but I'm just not fussy enough to be bothered to frog back when I make a mistake. This isn't good, since a wee mistake on a fancy lace pattern can ruin the whole thing. I missed a yarnover or something around row 60, and while after some fudging you can barely tell, I know this thing is going to be far from perfect. I'm going to insert a lifeline in between clues, but in general, I'm not that emotionally invested in perfection. Bad lace knitter.

I'm also chugging along on my Charade socks and I'm halfway through a fabric bag... more to come if this heat ever lets up.