Movin' On

I just finished Clue #1 for the Secret of the Stole III. The pattern is lovely and relatively easy to follow (I am knocking on wood even as I write!). I decided to go ahead and work from both ends. I am NOT optimistic enough to try and knit them simultaneously; however, I am beginning the second half as I finish the clues at the other end. WE'll see how long I can keep up the pace.

I also finished swatching Mystery Stole 4. You can't see much difference in the photos. On the left is the 3.5 mm version, the 3.0 mm is on the right. In person, though, the swatch made with 3.5 mm needles is lighter, airier, and the stitches are more balanced looking.

I have a huge cache of FOs to block - 4 in all. I am particularly eager to see the results for the Slow Bee contraction version. I'm not entirely satisfied with the look of the ending, but I think on the whole it will make a nice little cape. I am aiming to block at least two by the end of the long weekend, but ....

Of Stitch Markers and Jane Austen

Looky! See what the Knitting Fairy brought me - okay, it was the postman, but aren't they great! These beauties are from Jed's Joy on Etsy. I'll be trying them out on the SotSiii and Mystery Stole 4. I'm hoping they'll eliminate any lag between stitches where a marker separates them. As you can see, they aren't made with metal circles, but instead with narrow, flexible cord. They're also just so cute. You can find them here

As for my ongoing KAL obsession, many bead choices have been posted from Artbeads - now it's a race against the clock. Will they arrive in time? Will the first clues be greeted by whoops of joy or groans of defeat?

In the meantime, I have been reading a pair of Jane Austen fan pieces, I guess you'd call them, both acquired at a great little bookstore in Stratford. The first, Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict, was a pleasant little romp. Austen herself does not appear in this light novel. Instead, a professed "Austen Addict" finds herself in regency England living another woman's life. It's light and frothy - a day's read when you don't want to think too much. The conceit explains away most anachronistic bits, and we all need that bit of fluff now and then. The second, The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen, was equally fictional, but I found it a bit more sympathetic with the Regency world view. The novel purports to be a lost memoir by Jane Austen (hence the name), recording a hitherto unacknowledged romance that encouraged her to return to her writing after a long hiatus. The romance is suitably conducted - as orderly, sincere, heart-felt, and thoroughly decorous as Austen herself.

If, however, you have been longing for an Austen fix - after all once you read the six completed novels, the juvenalia, Lady Susan and the fragments, what are you to do? - I have a few other suggestions. The most well known would have to be Stephanie Barron's mystery series starring Austen as narrator and sleuth. These charming pieces demonstrate Barron's familiarity with both the period and Austen's own life - as well as her superb command of "Austenian" language and tone.

The two you might not have come across might be a bit difficult to find. Both are completions of Austen fragments. Generally, I have disliked these attempts; I suspect because their authors have viewed Austen with so much awe that they haven't been willing to really take on the story. Reading them is rather like watching Shakespeare as staged by an awe-struck director who has refused to see the humourous (and bawdy) bits. These two are an exception to the rule. Sanditon by Jane Austen and Another Lady is a little sensational, but the Lady's use of language and plotting is nonetheless admirable to the Austen-starved reader. A new edition is available right now as well.

The other is more controversial - and thoroughly out of print. The Watsons continued and completed by John Coates is utterly charming, if extremely controversial. He not only completed the novel but also cut the original fragment. Despite this heresy, though, I would say that his is the ablest completion I have ever read. He catches the tone of Austen's language beautifully, and the characters he creates have that wry, fond yet brutally clear-eyed Austen touch.

Hopefully I'll soon have pictures of the yarn and beads together - and swatches - for the ever-fascinating KALs

KAL Extravaganza

I'm just beginning to gear up for the Lace KAL extravaganza. Secret of the Stole III begins on Friday with our first clue. I'm wildly excited - especially since I greatly admired the earlier SotSs - especially "Charleston". I am indeed using my remaining Malabrigo Tuareg for the project. I've ordered pearlescent blue beads - I hope they'll match well. As for the ill-fated Bee, I have decided not to frog it as I originally planned. Instead, I'm going to try a knitted-on edging to make it a shoulderette. I love the opening sequences, and I hope this will create a lovely little bit. Any suggestions for edging gratefully received - the pattern has just ended. It is about 10-12 inches deep at this point.










A few weeks later, Mystery Stole 4 begins! Again, I have loved the earlier Mystery Stoles, and although the designer has changed, I'm sure this one will be as delightful. I abandoned my original orange plan (no, my DH will not have to run me out of Dodge), and instead I have purchased some gorgeous sage green Zephyr from Fiddlesticks in Toronto via the Needle Arts Bookstore. I had already ordered pearly white beads, and I think they'll be fabulous with this color. The yarn arrived in a day (they are SO FAST - and being in the same city certainly helps). Now I just hope all the beads will arrive in time. I have just found two bead stores in Toronto, but I haven't yet gotten up the nerve to use them. I think this may be some new form of pathology - things purchased by computer MUST be better than those you see with your own eyes - go figure.

In the meantime, I continue doggedly with the Gale shawl. I keep wanting to begin something else for a little variety, but I think, given my KAL commitments, that that would be insanity - or insanity of a higher order.

My DH has finally decided on an Aran pattern for his next sweater as well - Gail's Red Aran Sweater from The Twisted Sisters Knit Sweaters. It's gorgeous! He wants it in natural white and would like me to alter it so that some of the cables extend into the ribbing. Looking at the pattern, I think I can do that for him. It will be slow going, though. My obsession with knitted lace derives from two sources: first, I hate worrying about size and gauge - wondering if a garment will fit after months of work is really more than I can bear. Second, I had a bad shoulder injury a few years ago; lace-weight knitting doesn't aggravate it, but knitting in heavier wool results in aches and pains. Clearly, this sweater will be on the needles for awhile. I do love the pattern, but I was hoping he would choose the River Grass Gansey from Jamieson's Shetland Knitting Book 2. It would let me indulge my gansey obsession. If the shoulder holds up, I may try Bristow by Melanie Gibbons for myself. This is clearly my problem; instead of knitting, here I am talking about the next ten projects I WILL knit. I'm off to put my money where my mouth is ...

FO Display

In my last post, I announced the completion of TWO FOs (pardon the capitals, in my world this is unprecedented!). I'm not going to wait for the blocked shots; instead, I'm going to share the shriveled unblocked photos. Although I'd love to claim that I am electing to post these pictures because the contrast to the blocked pieces will increase their glory, the fact is, I have no idea when I might actually block them, and I want to share them while I'm still aglow with achievement.

So here they are:

The Seraphim in Mini Maiden Victoria





















and the Silk Romance Cape







I have not, however, become a lady of leisure - I have to justify my stash somehow. I am working almost exclusively on the Gale Shawl. I am gearing up, however, to begin the Secret of the Stole by Nautical Knitter and Mystery Stole 4 by Pink Lemon Knits. I finally frogged the Bee, admitting, rather belatedly, to myself that, although it is lovely, it is enormous and thus unlikely to be completed - or worn if such an unlikely event were to occur. I'm thinking of doing the SotS with the remaining Malabrigo Tuareg from the "late" Bee. The Mystery Stole, though, is going to be knitted in my impulse yarn - Helen's Lace "Carrot". It's not really a color I usually use, but I fell in love with it. I'm going to use - as a reveler suggested - alabaster beads. I am quite aware that the last time I began a piece in an "impulse" yarn - the ill-fated first Seraphim in "Lily Pad" - I spent hours working on it, refusing to admit I hated it until a posse of my close friends and family ambushed me with reality. This time I hope it won't come to that - or that "Sheriff" DH will successfully order it out of town early on in the process while I can change to the Mahogany Zephyr waiting in the wings.

Yes, we are watching Deadwood - as you can tell by the extended metaphors above - what a fabulous show!

It Ends Well

I have just returned from Shakespeare bliss .... Yes, we went to Stratford (Ontario, not England - it was bliss not heaven) for their amazing Shakespeare Festival - a yearly event showcasing plays and musicals by the Bard and others. This year we were particularly fortunate. The piece de resistance (I can't do diacritical marks; I can spell - well a little) was Simon Callow's There Reigns Love. In this remarkable piece, the character actor so many know from Four Weddings and a Funeral addresses himself to Shakespeare's sonnets, supporting a scholarly suggestion that the sonnets, when reordered in a certain way, tell a tragic tale of love and loss in Shakespeare's life. As a reader, I am not at all convinced by this theory, but as a theatre-goer, I was a complete believer for the length of Callow's rendition which alternated between casual narrative and recitation of the sonnets in character. Of course, the fact that the theatre seats fewer than 500 and that we secured front row seats certainly added to the magic.

We also had the opportunity to see Brian Dennehy perform two one act plays, Krapp's Last Tape and Hughie. The Studio Theatre was even smaller than Callow's venue, and the performance was sublime - however utterly depressing the matter of the two plays. Dennehy's amazing range was certainly showcased, particularly since we saw him later that evening as the King of France in All's Well. Unfortunately, that show was of mixed quality. Dennehy and the smaller characters were marvelous; however, the production elected to play the two principals, Helena and Bertram, as straight, sincere, and thus largely unlikeable, characters. If you don't know the plot, Helena arranges to marry Bertram, a man of superior birth, by obtaining him as a reward for curing the king. He's unimpressed - he feels she's beneath him - and deserts her, claiming he'll treat her as a wife only if she gets his ring from his finger and bears his child (he is not helping on this score). She engages in various stratagems to comply in which he unknowingly assists through his attempts to seduce and later deny a young virgin. In order to make this come off - there's a reason why it's referred to as a "problem" comedy - it really has to be presented as a battle of wits rather than earnest girl goes after slug of a man. Oh well ...

In a completely different vein, I completed two, yes two, FOs this week! The first is the mini-maiden Seraphim I have been working on for awhile, and the second is the Silk Romance Cape by BadCat Designs. I appear to be the only person on Ravelry to have attempted this piece - which I can understand given how hard the pattern was to obtain - but I must say it was entirely worth the effort. It took only a few days to complete, and it's beautiful. The pattern is very clear and the product amazing. I will put up pictures of both as soon as I have blocked them - by far the most aggravating part of any project!