Saturday 18 August 2007

Swan Lake Press Night

....after weeks of wondering and trying to visualise the final product -- it's here! Below are my two completed Swan Lake Stoles (Mystery Stole 3).


















I love the finished objects. I truly think the stoles are stunning - particularly when the wing is flung over the shoulder. I can't wait to get the Swan shawl pin I ordered to go with it as I think it will really finish it offThe stoles are both knit in Zephyr wool/silk on 2.75mm needles. I did extra repeats to add some length (Melanieincludes directions for lengthening or shortening the stole from the base pattern.)

The stole is 17 inches wide, about 76 inches long. That's smaller than Melanie's target - but she knit on larger needles.

The pattern (which will be available from PinkLemonTwist) is very clear and easy to follow.



















I thought this Mystery knitting was great fun and I'll definitely consider doing one again! I enjoyed not knowing what was coming next, and I enjoyed having a set of knitting assigned to each week. Despite my original plan to ignore the week by week schedule, I became obsessed (ahem) with completing the clues as they came out.

PS Wyoming has landed!!! (I think.) On Friday the blog had a visitor from Cheyenne, Wyoming. Well, that's where the ISP was. They spent a few minutes on the site and read a few pages but no comment. From what I can tell Cheyenne is on the border which could possibly mean the visitor was from a neighbouring state.... but in the absence of any evidence that that is the case I am counting the Wyoming Project (such as it was) a success.

I am slightly disappointed as Friday I had researched a few Wyoming facts (first woman governor!, first state to give women the vote!, is the second largest the wool producer in the US! 810,000 sheep! 500,000 people! dishy Matthew Fox from Lost was born there!) which I was sort of looking forward to sharing. Oh! I did.

33 comments:

Atti said...

Absolutely beautiful!

Anonymous said...

Both are beautiful! The draped wing is exquisite. Now I'm motivated more than ever to finish this stole.

Reluctant Penguin said...

You did a lovely job! Mine is still drying, and I am having trouble visualizing it draped properly... Thanks for posting your photos so quickly. (And how did you ever manage to knit TWO of them so fast???)

strikkegal said...

WOW! very beautiful!!!! I just finnished mine and will block it tonight, hope mine turns out just as beautiful!

Emily said...

Lovely. encouraging. I'm 4 rows from the end, and had been feeling that i might go back to the end of clue 4 and redo the whole wing part with part of the border, but I'm going to finish, block and see, now.

yours look so good actually over the shoulders (well, hanger!) and I see you've blocked the feathers out to the points, no the in-betweens - much better!!!!!

Peggy said...

OMG, those are so beautiful!!!! I can't wait to finish mine and get to wearing it.

Annie said...

Thanks so much for the pictures... especially the draped versions. Just the kick I need to finish my stalled stole. Both are really beautiful and the draped wing is absolutely lovely. Nice work.

Mind if I link to you to motivate my friends (and myself) to finish up?

Anonymous said...

Well, now I have been inspired to finish my stole! I had been keeping up until the wing started. I was a little hesitant until I saw your beautiful stoles. So now I will start up again! I've done several mystery shawls & love the anticipation each week! Thanks for sharing these wonderful pictures.

FairyNuff said...

oh wow soo those are both stunning!!!!
your are so clever!
I would love to create something even half as beutiful as those!!

Qutecowgirl said...

They are Absolutely Beautiful!!! You have given me the inspiration to get knitting on mine!!

Anonymous said...

Thank you for posting the shawls both ways -- that is flat & blocked and then "posed." I am behind on the mystery stole -- I ran into trouble on Clue 2 and then life intervened -- so I have been keeping tabs on everyone's progress before proceeding myself. Although I am not at all wild about the "wing" when it lies flat, it looks positively lovely when worn so I think that is how I will proceed.

-- Avice

Unknown said...

Gorgeous, Soo!

I love the fact that the shawl transforms when it is worn. Clever design, beautiful knitting.

z's momma said...

Beautiful. and TWO!

Anonymous said...

Beautiful! Just Love It. I need to finish mine. I just finished clue 4.

Anonymous said...

Wow, those are fantastic!

Heide said...

Your stoles are so beautiful! And two of them! I've not had any kid-free knitting time all summer so alas, my poor single MS3 is still back on clue 3. I've printed both versions of the pattern and hopefully once school starts I can finally pick this up again. Now I need to decide which version. I was leaning towards symmetrical until I saw how your wing looked draped across the shoulder. Thank you for sharing. Cheers!

Tammy said...

Oh beautiful!! Ok, now I need to get mine done so I can use it. WOW, just beautiful!!

mimiasovitch said...

Soo, those are both absolutely stunning. The effect when they are draped is enough to silence the wing-doubters for sure!

Viknits said...

Wow soo, they're beautiful. I was dying to know how the wing would work, it looks lovely being all drapey!
What is this Wyoming thing you're talking about??

fleegle said...

Those stoles are stunning! You did a fabulous job!

What yarn are you using for Lyra?

Anonymous said...

(coming in from lacefreak's blog) Wow! you did a stunningly beautiful job! Terry

Romi said...

Those are stunning! WOW! Now I'm inspired to finish mine. :)

blog-blethers said...

WOW! Your shawls are just breath taking! I can feel a lacey compulsion developing here now - but MUST get all the other WIPs finished first!

Kathleen said...

Fabulous!

Anonymous said...

hello
congratulations to your wunderful shawl knitting ; ).

But I´m very impressed to see this faboulus knitted coat

hugs gudrun

LittleBerry said...

they looks absolutley stunning... mine is blocked now, thanks for the suggestion of blocking the wing hard....

Fiona Reynolds said...

Really beautiful shawls. Nice to see a little more detail (than you posted on Angel Yarns)about how obsessed you were making them. I know I'm not alone with my knitting obsession. :-)

Anonymous said...

They are really gorgeous!

Adrienne said...

JUST BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!!!

Monica said...

Your stoles have turned out lovely! I was going to comment anyways, to ask a question, but then I finished reading the rest of the post, and noticed you were talking about Wyoming. Not just Wyoming, but Cheyenne. Well, as it would happen, I'm from Cheyenne, have lived here most all my life.
Anyways, my question, how did you get the shawl to wrap like that? Looks like a lovely way to wear it....

Niki said...

Stunning! wow!!! So very exquisite.

Emily said...

Soo - I too am going to miss the excitement of clue day. In fact, I've joined the 'secret of chrysopolis' mystery stole group on Yahoo, to start late September (in German).

BTW, re your Lyra obsession, have you seen Jared's recent completed huge doily/lap blanket? http://brooklyntweed.blogspot.com/2007/08/hemlock-ring-blanket.html it si simpler than Lyra, but remeniscent, don't you think? His photos are beautiful, too.

Yarndancer said...

Wow, those are fantastic! It's great to see how the pattern looks knitted up and blocked.