Two more hands, please!

I just landed a new job helping a wonderful friend of mine run for Governor for the state of Indiana. I've been busy getting her office set up and attending meetings. With her background and experince, she will be perfect for the job. The work is exciting and fun - but it hasn't left me much time for knitting!

I'm still plugging along with my MS3 stoles. The white one is ready for Friday's clue, but I'm behind on the gray one and probably won't catch up before the next clue is out. Knitting the ground of flowers has been fun, hasn't it? I'm really curious why we'll need the lifeline.

I'm also excited to see what the theme will be. My back-up guess is that the theme has to do with the plight of the honey bee. Honey, I'm stuck on that bee thing! Bees have been in the news lately (read it in black and white) because of the mysterious epidemic killing so many.

With so much traveling, I needed a really, truly mindless project to knit in places where knitting lace can be dangerous (like conversing with your boss in a moving car, for instance). Using this bundle of yarn from the Fleece Artist, I'm working on the "Lady of the Lake" sweater. I got the yarn and pattern from an eBay store called Tidal Brook Yarns. Kathleen is an excellent merchant, with prompt shipping and helpful service. I recommend her highly to my knitting friends.

Yep, I should be knitting the Koigu sweater sleeves, but I'm still figuring and planning as I go (not mindless enough). Even though Koigu can be frogged a lot without visible damage, I want thesleeves perfect this time so Jazz will have to wait until I get an MS3 finished.

In Sheep's Clothing

I just went for a second cup of coffee!

(Garbo, asleep in the alpaca fleece I was spinning.)

The buzz

MS3 is buzzing around my brain. I now think the motif in the point is a likely a bee. It fits even better with my original guess of the Goddess Neith, the weaver, the wearer of the veil, deity of the sky (light and dark). The Temple of Neith in Sau (Sais), Egypt, is known as the House of the Bee.

"The Veil of Neith" sounds like a good shawl name, too.

Or a thousand other guesses.
It probably really is a NASCAR checkered-flag theme. Ha!

Sheep shot

My wonderful nephews are in town, which means little knitting or spinning. More like NO knitting or spinning. But fiber? Can't keep me away from fiber! We went to a petting zoo yesterday, and I got to at least feed a coupla sheep and a llama or two.

I love my nephews. (But I'm missing MS3)!

My, aren't we lazy!

No stretching, no blocking, no nothing.... My 7-1/2 year old twin nephews are here to visit for a week, so there's little time to knit. I banged out the last six rows of Clue 2 on the white version of MS3 this morning while they slept. I hear them stirring now, so a quick shot before I start a very, very, VERY fun-filled day...

Nothin' but knit

Yaaaaaay! DH is out of the hospital again, and my beads *finally* arrived on July 5. Had to jump right in on the MS3 of course, so here's the dark Zephyr through Clue 2. Can't see the beads, but I assure you, they're there, and IMO, it was worth the wait.

My current official guess (subject to change, of course) for the theme of Mystery Stole 3 is the legend of the Egyptian goddess Neith. I swear that the motif within the "pyramid" end of the stole is a scarab, and the edging represents the Nile. (That is, until my next guess!)

Neith is a goddess of the sky, mother of night and day, and the goddess of weaving and arts domestic (did they call it knitting then?). She is also associated with war. MS3 designer Melanie hinted that this would not be a good theme for a wedding. Althogh a wedding is never associated with war (or dung beetles), it is sometimes associated with marriage...

In the meantime...

MS3 has begun, but my beads for the gray Zephyr yarn have not yet arrived in the mail. When none arrived yesterday and today is a no-mail holiday, there was only one thing to do: start something else!

But MS3 has my full knitting attention right now. Looking at the stash, I spied a couple of skeins of soft white Misti Alpaca. DD donated some silver-lined transparent beads from her jewelry-making stash, and I was on my way. No swatching this time - full speed ahead! Some folks are making two shawls, since the theme colors are black or white. I uess I am, too.

After a long, sleepless night - DH is back in the hospital - Clue 1 is finished. (There are beads, but this quick and dirty pin-and-point shot doesn't show 'em.)

Uncle!

Okay, okay. I have a gazillion projects lined up, and one languishing on the needles (Jazz). What cut the queue this time?

Mystery Stole 3, that's what!

At least I haven't bought new yarn. I got mine from the basement stash, some lovely Zephyr wool/silk in "Steel". Now I did have to buy a smaller crochet hook (size 12), and a bunch of beads, which haven't arrived yet. But meanwhile, I printed out all the info and dutifully swatched:

Well, to be truthful, it wasn't exactly dutiful - I just wanted to knit. The top piece is on size 3 needles, and the bottom one (the one of choice) is on size 4's. Amazing what a quarter of a millimeter makes, isn't it?

No fewer than seven members of my local group, Frog Pond Fiber Arts, have joined so far. It's positively contageous. If you have the bug to sign up, you'll have to do it post-haste: MS3 closes to new members on July 6.