In as much as hobbies and crafts are meant to help people decompress and reduce stress in their lives, we are capable of turning even these most enjoyable past times into trying times. I have mentioned before that the rush towards Christmas was a struggle; I committed myself to completing a number of tasks for friends/customers that I felt was do-able. That is, until the time drew closer and I knew that the last pairs of socks I had to finish just would not get done for the holidays. Fortunately, the recipient was very understanding and I delivered them a week later to much praise and gratitude. It was well worth the effort I put in for those socks and all of the projects, simply to see the reactions on the faces of those folks who received them.
I should slide in a mention here that if you have received a KnottyNancy item, please send pictures of them being worn! I have not had the opportunity for every piece to be modeled and want to build that portfolio for others to see my work. Thank you in advance for your help!
Once the holidays passed, I was free and clear to begin working on projects I had put off. Things I wanted to make for me, or for friends FROM me. There are stacks of bins of skeins of yarn just itching to be made into something creative and beautiful. I just didn't know where to begin. As someone who is prone to tidying and tying up loose ends, it seemed perfect that I would return to a project that has long been worked on in drips and drabs for over a year. A project I love but that requires focus and intense concentration; unless you want to use lifelines, which I admit I am too lazy to sew in! Instead, I decided to advance on this Lacey Stole once and for all... and have it ready to present to a much admired and loved friend as a belated birthday present.
You've seen this stole in part before - the "gauge my tension" entry. So you can see I've struggled with my work on this stole over the course of a few seasons. I was bound and determined though and so I forged ahead knowing nothing could stop me. Almost nothing. That is, except perhaps running out of yarn.
I was devastated. This was $50/skein yarn that was a splurge in the first place. I thought I had been assured I would get a whole stole out of one skein but clearly, that wasn't going to be true. I was far short of the 65" length that was recommended, and this is being made for a tall woman. So, I had to scurry and find 'matching' hand-dyed yarn. I did the best I could, and thanks to yarnjunkie.com, I found the same color yarn and had it sent to me right away. As soon as it arrived, I was back to finishing up the stole.
This is a fairly repetitive pattern so while it does require some concentration, proven by yet another mistake which caused me to have to rip out 12" of work and re-knit, I mostly knit this pattern from memory and repetition. It's easy once you get the hang of feather and fan. And of course, I have not read to the end of the instructions since first acquiring the pattern almost a year before. So as I approached the last 5" of the stole and got excited that I was almost done, I was dumbfounded to see that I might have a whole other step to take before finishing the project.
The pattern calls for a reverse single crochet stitch to be done all around the outside edge of the stole. I was stunned and petrified. I took that one crochet class and can't say I was a natural. It wasn't easy for me so I had to watch a you tube video a friend found for me a couple of times before I was willing to even give it a try. But thank goodness crochet goes a LOT faster then knitting and so I was well on my way before I knew it. And sure enough, the trim is a great way to finish off the stole and have it look completed. I know you should always follow the complete instructions, but I resisted; this is yet another reminder that instructions are there so we don't have to reinvent the wheel sometimes... others have done the hard part and made the mistakes ahead of us, so we can do it right the first time. Well, second or third time depending upon how you look at how many errors I had to fix.
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| Lacey Stole |
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| Stole pin |
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