Newbie!

Just wanted to post a quick Hello. My name is Christine and Im just now getting into shawls, stoles and everything "big." I've been admiring everyone's beautiful Bee's and had to join. I need to commit to knitting otherwise my Christmas gift list will NEVER get done.

Im excited to get started!

Thanks for letting me join, Annmarie!

Christine

off the needles and ready for blocking

I finished knitting my bee fields shawl last night and will be blocking it today. It's raining cats and dogs here in NYC so it will probably take hours to dry. I'll post a photo as soon as I can take it outdoors for a nice 'autumnal' shot. :)

This shawl was a pleasure to knit, but I did find it more pleasurable to work on when I didn't try to knit on it at the end of a long and tiring work day, especially the last sections with the multiple yarnover bee motif. These fairly flew off the needles when I was well-rested but seemed very tedious to me when I was tired.

I had hoped to finish it in time to wear to Rhinebeck, but that didn't happen. I knew that the designer, Anne Hanson, would be at Rhinebeck and was hoping to show off my own 'bee'. I did run into Anne as I was leaving the fairgrounds on Sunday afternoon and we had a nice little visit. She admired the shawl I was wearing, Summer in Kansas from Two Old Bags, and we talked about knitted-on edgings and such for a while. She's lovely and it was very nice to meet her face to face after corresponding with her by email.

The yarn I'd originally ordered for the shawl, Wooly Wonka's Buckwheat Honey, has been saved for the Honeybee Stole which I'll start as soon as I get caught up a bit more on other projects. After living with this yarn since August, though, I'm thinking that I'll probably overdye it with a smidgen of Logwood Grey from Earthues Dyes to tone down its brightness just a bit. Although it's a lovely yarn, I don't usually wear such bright colors and think I'll get more use out of the stole in a color a bit more subdued.

Baby Steps

Although I joined this KAL some weeks ago, I didn't want to start a new project until my old ones were done. Well, the old ones are not quite done, but I plunged into Bee Fields this week anyway.

I am using the stash yarn shown, and it seems that I need to knit on size 3 (US) needles. After swatching with different sizes, I looked closely at your pictures and decided that this yarn on size 3s would be best--and it is close to the suggested gauge, but not exact.

I'll be done with the set-up rows tonight and then on to the first section. My winglettes seem a bit small, but I'm expecting they'll be more obvious when blocked.

Half Way

The first half of my stole is finished. I couldn't resist blocking it so I could really see what it looks like.



With the first half successfully completed, I anticipate no problems with the second half. Now I need to get busy and finish spinning that second package of Black Rainbow Glitter from Aurelia.

Here's a little close-up of a modification I am doing. I'm adding beads to the side and end edges. They are the "oil slick" colour, I think referred to as "dark aurora borealis", and they match the glitter in the handspun perfectly.

Also, instead of the "bind off loosely in knit" I'm using a great bind-off I learned when doing the Swallowtail Shawl. It makes for a very stretchy yet tidy edge.

K2, *transfer the 2 stitches on the right needle back to the left needle and then K2tog through the back loop. K1 and repeat from* around.

Bee and Honeycomb

I'm well into the bee and honeycomb section now.



I'm hoping I'll have the time to completely finish this half of the stole before I have to put it down again. I'm allowing myself a few days working on it and then it's back to projects with looming deadlines again.

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???