Clue 4 is DONE! (Just in time!)

I finished Clue 4 on the White Shawl a few days ago, but just put the finishing touches on the Black Shawl and pinned them both out for a photo session because I realized how badly I've negected taking photos of this project. (Project(s) since I'm making 2? They're the same pattern, though!)

Thus, I present Alpaca with a Twist- Fino, color "First Frost" with Pearly beads:



And an unidentified Japanese yarn in Black with Peacock-green shiny beads:




Clue 5 comes out first thing tomorrow morning. And since I refuse to go outside when it's 95 degrees with insane humidity, I suppose I'll make good progress! :o)

No excuses, no pictures

I've finished Clue 3 on MS3 on the white shawl, but not the black one (yet.) This week has been kind of busy and I haven't made the time to finish it yet.

"Princess" is in the process of getting braces, which has meant weekly trips to the orthodontist for one procedure or another. She gets next week off, while her appliance is being built in Wisconsin, of all places. Then, another set of spacers before her final "installation" of the palatte expander & braces. She seems so young for this, but her mouth is in a terrible state and needs some intervention.

"Little man" is being his usual five-and-a-half-year-old self, which is talkative, SNUGGLY (suprisingly!), sweet, but yet a bit on the high-maintenence side. He's still an early-bird and hasn't adjusted so well to our layed-back summer schedule. He'll probalby start sleeping in in mid-August, just in time to start adjusting back to the school-year scheudle. Oh well...

Got into my classroom yesterday and did a LOT. Cleaning, arranging, bulliten boards, etc. Have a bit more to do, then I'll focus on lesson planning and curriculum in August. For a summer "off," I sure spend a lot of time thinking about/working on/setting up/pre-planning for the school year! I even sewed new curtains (I'm switching classrooms for the upcoming school year, so it was time to do some updating) today, which I hope to put up this afternoon.

Almost Harry Potter 7 time. I can't wait!

Wow, I really suck as a blogger!

MS3 is not only coming along, but it now has a fraternal twin. I finished Clue 1 so quickly (one afternoon) I decided to start a second one, in black, with the coolest peacock green/sparkly beads.

Clue 1 Done- White Shawl

Clue 1 Done- Black Shawl

Clue 2 Done- White Shawl

So far, this MS3 project has kept my rapt attention, except that the clues are a bit short for me. (Probably because I'm off work for the summer and used to GO-GO-GO 24/7 and life has suddenly screeched to a halt. I have more time for knitting than most, so I shouldn't complain about short clues! Instead, I will just make 2!) I still have no idea what the theme will be once it's complete. The only guesses I've had so far are a Harry Potter theme (which the designer has already refuted) and some sort of birds-and-the-bees theme, which doesn't mesh with the black or white color choices. Who knows....

I'll try to be better about posting progress!

Third swatch is a charm!

Swatched for MS3 again, this time on bamboo 2's, and tried a center bead placement. This did the trick!

Third Swatch

All three, top- size 2's, middle- size 3's, bottom- size 4's.

Swatched- but not quite right yet

I swatched the Alpaca (color "First Frost") on size 4 needles last night, but I'm thinking it might be a little loose in the stockinette, so I'm going to make at least one more swatch (size 3) maybe even one on size 2. Going to hit the bead store soon too (maybe today, if the kids cooperate!) to find something subtle; kind of a tone-on-tone effect. (Yes, the LYS had anothe skein in the same dyelot, so I'm golden on yardage with lots of swatching room to spare! Winding one of those skiens last night took FOREVER, and I'm hoping I didn't wind too tightly. It was hard not to, with that tiny lace-weight yarn pulling against the giant wooden swift! I gave it some hand-tension, but it's still pretty tight.)

Behold- first swatch...

ETA: Second swatch....

Size 3 needles, with beads! (I think I "overblocked" this one, but I'll see what it looks like after it dries.)

Jumping in and ready to swatch!

I found a link regarding the Mystery Stole 3 Yahoo group, so (of course) I jumped on the bandwagon. It just so happens I bought one skein of "Alpaca with a Twist- Fino" in an almost-white color a while a go, "just because," and I think it will be a perfect fit for this project. The question now is do I swatch it up and make sure or zoom down to the LYS to pick up a second skein, hoping she still has one of the same dyelot? I should probably just call her and ask her to set one aside for me (if she has one) and quickly swatch the one I have. Oh, and this will be my first "Knitting with Beads" adventure too, so I need to pick up a vial of #8 seed beads, something clear-ish and maybe a little shiny, I'm thinking. This is so hard, not knowing exactly what it'll look like! Part of the fun, I suppose.

Ds's Wallaby is coming along, one sleeve done and the other on it's way, once that is long enough to join to the body, it'll go fast. Still working on sister's Rona shawl too, but that thing is a monstrosity at this point and needs to wait until I have some more patience.

Finally remembered to take pics of dd's Wallaby!

Hood down:

Hood up:

Ds's Wallaby is :uh coming along. Even though it's smaller, it's kind of boring to make the same pattern back-to-back, so I'm not feeling the knitting mojo right now. BUT- I'm officially OUT OF SCHOOL for the summer, so expect some progress soon!