baltic sea stole, the early years

my, time certainly flies by, doesn't it? especially in the summer, when we are tremendously busy and there is so much going on. you can expect a few catching-up style posts today, as i have the day off. :)

last sunday, i finally got a chance to sit and knit for a whole day, something i haven't managed in months! i now have a good foothold (knock on wood!) on the baltic sea stole. the pattern is from fiber trends (designed by faina letoutchaia) and calls for a sport weight mohair, but i didn't want to knit it with anything that fuzzy. there's a beautiful sample shawl at my LYS that's made out of this super soft alpaca from curious creek fibers, which is what made me want to knit this pattern. however, the LYS doesn't have that yarn in any colors i love, and upon further investigation, i decided that the yarn was also way too inconsistently dyed for its cost. it's soft as hell, but i don't know--not really worth it. i found some yarn i like even better at bella filati a few weeks ago, this beaded rayon from blue heron yarns. neither THK or i were certain about how well this yarn would do with lace, but so far, it seems to be about perfect. the proof will be in the blocking, but that, my friends, is a long way away. even though the yarn is turning my hands and my needles blue as the beejeezus when i knit with it. however, the results are so soft and drapey, i am finding it hard to care too much. i'm knitting on size 9 straights and it's working out pretty well. the only downside is that i have to seriously concentrate on the pattern. THK and amy spent all day sunday giving me crap for not talking as much as usual and begging me to go back to working on washcloths, but i wasn't about to waste a whole day NOT working on it, especially after the whole train debacle. now that i am getting further into it, the pattern is starting to make more sense to me. i can see the structure, and the repeat is burning itself into my brain. hopefully the concentration level can drop to something like 87% in the very near future. i am afraid this thing is going to take me a year to knit, but i just don't care. i am loving it!