Monday, September 8, 2008

Mystery Stole #4 Clue 1 is done

Just pardon my really lousy photography!
My only concern is that my cast on is slightly tight, but I suspect I'll be blocking this out more for length anyway and the width will be fine. If not, in a huge pinch I'd be more inclined to cut the cast on and just replace it than to frog and start over since the rest is fine.

I'm happy with my results, but still reserving judgement on the pattern. People have done some calculations and figured that most of the beading is already done and the rest will be primarily lace, which would be my preference, but if it's mostly beading I'll do it and probably like the finished work but not love it as much as I love lace. I think I prefer beads as an accent than as a design element, but that's just personal taste.
People had warned me about the oiling of the ColourMart yarn, and I'm glad they did; after a few rows, my hands are definitely tacky. I'm assured that final washing does remove all the added oil (which is added because the yarns are originally meant for machine knitting and I guess the hand knit lace market is sort of their remnant market). I know that due to my really bad photography late last night you can't see much of the detail but the yarn and beads are quite nice together and I think once the work is done the beads will show up just enough to be subtle yet well-defined.
I'm a little concerned about the tone of some of the emails on the listserv. There have been some that have come across as rather snippy in answering questions (I don't mean specifically from the designer, but from members) especially when dealing with members who are beginners at lace KALs, and I really personally resent their judgmentalism and attitudes. I know that many of the questions are being asked multiple times and in multiple ways, and I know some of the answers are given in the instructions, but people learn in different ways, and don't process everything at once. I wish some people on the list would be more patient and more understanding about the questions that are coming up. No one makes anyone answer, so if these people are irritated that others don't understand some of the instructions or are flustered, they should just hit delete rather than answer in a negative way.
If anyone's interested though, in being part of a big active group knitting what hopefully will be a beautiful stole, you can still join in--sign ups are open until this Friday at the yahoo group website.

5 comments:

Tallguy said...

You are right, those beads are very subtle, but they do create a very nice design. I think when you get more of it done, and with the weight of it, you will be very pleased with it.

I am in this KAL as well, and have found some of the members to be unbelievably patient in answering questions. I have often just raised up my hands in despair over some of the very simple and repeated questions some have had. But I have to remind myself, that although I am a relatively new knitter, some people just never went beyond garter stitch scarves. I guess I'm just super eager to learn everything, so have done tons of "samples" of every stitch around and really find lace especially satisfying to work on. It's mind-numbing usually, and very boring to do, but the results are stupendous. I have resisted the temptation to write in and say something stupid; I have held my tongue, and try to tell myself that they will learn -- one day (I hope so)! Thanks for reminding me that all of us are not the same -- and to have a bit more patience with them.

Leesy said...

Thanks for your very thoughtful comment. Maybe I'm just being overly sensitive on others' behalf, which is a trait I usually hate. I'll try to be more patient when I think others are being impatient!

Anonymous said...

I'm also in the KAL, and I can understand you feeling like maybe some of the answers are snippy. I don't post much on the list (I'm a slow knitter, so busy doing that, I guess...), but I will say that sometimes Tone is so hard to convey in a post, ya know? Hopefully, no one really means to be snippy!! I just wish we could see the gentle, thoughtful faces behind the typewriter...

Your blog and KAL are lovely...first time I've visited.

Leesy said...

Thank you Suz. I agree...I need to be more tolerant and assume that other people aren't being negative.
I actually have never been in a group where so many people do have trouble with the pattern. I don't mean that as criticism of the pattern or designer, more as an explanation of why there seems to be so much exasperation on the part of both questions and answerers. And to be fair, the exasperation really is minimal, it's just that I guess I've never had it pop up at all on KAL groups (call me innocent!).

Teri said...

Hi, your shawl looks good so far. I just finished ripping mine all out. I cast on the 113 stitches, but the count on the chart is 123.Anyway, I came up short, way before the end of the first pattern row on the chart was finished. I don't know what I did wrong, and I have been trying to weed through the messages on the site to see if I was the only one that had the problem. I guess I should go back and read through the directions again. I think I missed something.