bee in field section 1

I should be finished with the Bee in Field Section 1 this evening and hope to get started on Section 2. I'm trying to have this shawl finished so that I can wear it at Rhinebeck. I've been sidetracked in my knitting by that pesky day job and by some other knitting projects that I'm working on. Here's a rumply, and a bit unfocused, shot of my bee.

All bunched up like this, those bees are looking more like spiders!

Last Row in the Bee & Honeycomb Section

I have a question with the last Row 6 in the Honeycomb section. Perhaps it's my print off, but I'm unsure of what to repeat during the middle section.

Do I repeat: p8, (p2tog) 9 times? Or do I just repeat the (p2tog) 9 times?

I know you all will have the answer. I'm excited, because this means I'm almost done with the first half of the stole!

-lola

Making progress!

I've done work on my Honey Bee stole, I've done only one repeat so far but it's looking very nice if I do say so myself.

I've put it aside for a few days while I work on my other stole, which is the "Secret of the Stole". They are both quite different. The "Secret of the Stole" is quite a bit easier than the Honey Bee stole.



I'm a glutton for punishment I working on 2 lace stoles at once and me who has never even done lace!

Chart reading trouble

I had cast on a couple of weeks ago for the triangular version of this shawl and then tried to start going on the chart for the setup section.

I am having trouble reconciling the written instructions with the charted ones. Just on row one alone it looks like:

Written Row 1(1st 6 instructions-row1-WS)=k1, p3, k2

Chart Row 1(1st 6 instructions-row1-WS)=No Stitch 2, k1, p3

Can anyone help me and let me know what I am doing (or how I am reading this) wrong? I am not an experienced lace knitter, but I did finish the MS3 using the chart only. I guess I got a little cocky.

I can see by all the lovely shawls out there that it is definitely something going on with me and not with the pattern.

Any help at all would be very, very gratefully accepted!

Thank you so much!
Connie in Palo Alto

Through the Swarm

The second chart is done. I'm through the "swarm" section of the first half of the Honeybee Stole.

Here's a closer look at that (unblocked) section.

Wovenflame

Here I Come

I finally made it to the Bee & Honeycomb section! I've really been looking forward to this part of the stole. That was until I was taking pictures. I won't post the ugliness here. I couldn't do that to the others. Right now, I'm just going to assume that no one will ever notice. Now if I can just keep my mouth shut...

Just a little while longer & then I can move onto Part 2!

Problem solved!

I'm happy to report that my knitting problem has been solved! I've had advice from Marlene and Annmarie and it helped a LOT!

Here's proof:



Now I can get started on my lace project, again!

Sylvie

Springtime shawl finished in time for fall!

The color of this shawl makes me think of spring. It is the color of the new leaves as they first come out on the trees in the Northeast, and it is the color that cheers us with the knowledge that winter is over and summer is on its way. (The color is actually lighter than it looks in this photo.)

This was probably the most challenging lace project I have ever undertaken, but because of Anne's clear instructions and excellent charts (after I blew them up enough to be able to read them) it wasn't as difficult as it appeared at first.

Here are a few tips for anyone just starting the Bee Fields Shawl:

• Be generous with stitch markers, whether you use pretty ones or the cheapo plastic variety or slices of drinking straws
• Use the needles with the sharpest tips you can find, especially for the Bees in Field section. I used Addi Lace Needles and can't imagine having done it without them.
• Follow Anne's instructions even when they don't seem to make any sense at all. She knows what she's doing.
  
• Lifelines are probably a good idea (though I didn't use them because there was no plain K or plain P row to weave the lifeline through)

Thank you Anne for your wonderful pattern!

(There is a little more info on my blog.)

Close Up of Edging

Here's a close-up view of my edging, (row 3 just completed, right side of work facing) for anyone who is having difficulty. The "cast on 2 using backwards loop, cast off 2 on next row" should be forming little bumps along the side, or "winglets" as Ann is calling them.

Just before the first marker there should be a vertical ladder of eyelets, commonly called "faggoting".

Yarn overs should slant from right to left. Here is a link to a video showing correct formation of YOs. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the little video camera icon. Pink is for Continental knitters, blue for English style knitters.

In this photo the first stitch is the one remaining on the right hand needle after completing the "cast off 2 sts". The second stitch is a YO. The third is the completed double decrease. Fourth is another YO. 2 knit stitches and then a k2tog.


For anyone who is interested in my bead placement; I use a crochet hook to place a bead on the third stitch of row 2 of the edging, and then I purl the stitch. This centers the bead in the diamond that forms along the edging. If you are using the graph, mark a "B" for bead placement in the row directly below the double decrease. Of course I have a corresponding bead on the other end of the row too.

WOVENFLAME

~

I need help already!

Hello everyone! I just started my Honey Bee stole yesterday. This is my very first lace project.
It's easier than I thought it would be! which is a good thing!

Hopefully I can explain this right. The problem I have I when I have to knit a stitch that was a yarn over on the previous row, it doesn't turn out right I can tell by looking at the picture and looking at my work.



I also seem to lose a stitch somewhere at either beginning, I count and check and recheck but the stitch disappears! A

Any advice???

Progress Photo

100 rows done and another 100 to go before there is a stitch pattern change.



I'm managing about 20 rows per day.


Wovenflame

New here!

Hi! I just joined this KAL a few days ago, and I'm so excited, I didn't know if it would be too late or not. I have been watching everyone else's bees in progress, they're gorgeous! I just started on mine a few days ago, and haven't gotten very far yet. I dyed this yarn myself from some I had in my stash. It's extremely fine, so I'm using size 3 needles. Maybe I'll end up adding a repeat or so at the end to make it bigger, but we'll see. I also ordered a knitpicks options needles to work this on, but I started on straights for now. There's a little more information about the yarn I'm using on my blog.

New Here

Hi, I'm Marlene (aka the blogger "Wovenflame"), and I love knitting lace.

I'm just starting the Honeybee Stole in my own handspun, laceweight "halfbred". I purchased the 'top' from Aurelia, in the "Black Rainbow Glitter" colourway.

I had a little trouble getting started, but once, twice, third time is the charm. I'm up to row 28 now.



The red at the top (from this perspective) is just my provisional cast on. The green blips at the bottom are snippets of plastic straw I use for stitch markers. I'm adding beads to the edges of the stole, but they aren't visible in this photo.

Thanks Kaylen, for the use of your flannel "burp cloth". It makes a great lap cloth so that I can see the black stitches a little better. It works great when I'm spinning black too.

WOVENFLAME

...my heart is broken ...

... because having got halfway up my shawl, i have lost it on a train in Berlin!! so now i shall have to get more yarn, wind it, and start again. and i cannot even be sure that if someone finds it they will know what to do with it, as in finish it off in some way or other, or unwind the yarn and knit it into something else, or something. i mean, i wouldn't mind so much if i thought it would come in useful in some way or other ... as it is, i feel distraught and almost dismembered ... :(((

p2 tog tbl - help please

Hello All, I am a new member of the Bee Fields KAL. I have a question about an instruction I have never used before. P2 tbl. When I googled this I found that there were 2 different methods of doing it. One was just putting needle from right to left thru the back loops wrapping yarn and making the decrease. The other was putting needle from left to right thru the back loops and making the decrease. It seemed to me that the first direction was really a K2 tbl.

If anyone could let me know how they did this, I would appreciate the help, thanks Gail

Look what came in the mail!!!

Hello everyone, I finally received my Honeybee Stole kit! First thing I have to do in turn that hank in a ball, that should be fun!?

I can't wait to get started with this project. I really enjoy looking at the different colors that people have chosen.

I am so excited to join this KAL!! I have my yarn - It is the tupelo gold color way from Wooly Wonka and I can't wait to start!!!

Seeing Beeeeeees

Is anyone having trouble reading the charts like I am? Both the lines and symbols do not seem clear enough for me to see without really straining my eyes, especially the chart for Bee in Field section 1. I ordered hard copies from Anne hoping it was just my printer, but I don't think hers are much better. Normally, I love to use charts but these seem just too tough. Any ides, suggestions, tips or advice? Help! I love the pattern and want to enjoy this knit.

paying for my folly

I should have known better than to try to work on my 'bee' late in the evening after a full day of teaching, preparing lessons and materials after school, then coming home to cook supper and take the dog for his long walk. In dealing with a very, very small mistake, quickly and easily fixed under ordinary circumstances, I created a mess that required ripping back three rows of knitting. And I was almost to the end of the Bee Swarm section! Waaah!!! Fortunately for me, I have a four day weekend as the schools here are closed for Rosh Hashanah. In addition to getting caught back up to where I was, I'm hoping to make some headway into the Bee in Field section. Not to mention getting some rest - sleep being constantly interrupted by abovementioned dog who is missing his buddy, my son who is now back at college.

Happy update: I'm not only all caught up to where I was when I created the "mess", I've knitted a few rows beyond that point. Hooray for peaceful days at home. :)

Finagling the join on the stole

Anne posted today about fussing with the join of the HoneyBee Stole, fussing made necessary by the fact that the provisional cast-on makes the pattern off by half a stitch when the stitches are picked up and knit in the opposite direction. I tried at first to overlook this small mismatch but after a few rows, it began to bug me so I frogged back to the join and also finagled a solution to make it line up.