I am participating in the Secret of the Stole KAL. This is my first experience doing a Knit A Long. Joined this on a whim and I am really enjoying myself.

I decided to use the KAL as a way of motivating me to get past a mental block I had about using laceweight yarn and using it to knit lace. My very first attempt to knit this very fine yarn was frustrating and I finally gave up the attempt and chose to use another “friendlier” yarn for the lace shawl project I wanted to do for my sister. This shawl is now done except for weaving in the ends and doing the blocking — so I will post a picture of it when it’s done drying. It turned out well…BUT that laceweight yarn I had purchased for the project originally just sat in my stash waiting for me to try again.

So, I started the KAL with a committment to make that ball of laceweight yarn into a lace stole. It took me three attempts to cast on and get started before I got a feel for knitting the yarn. I was successful in completing the first hint on time. Then I started on Hint 2 last Friday — I found myself “tinking” several times during the evening. Fortunately, I was able to knit back and correct the errors each time before I’d gone too far along — but anytime you are doing that the knitting is neither fun nor relaxing. So, Saturday I splurged on Addi Lace circular needles at my LYS and switched from my Addi Turbos to the lace needles. WHAT A DIFFERENCE! The points are sharper — which makes the decreases so much easier. And the needles have more grip on them — so no more slipping off of stitches inadvertantly.

Lesson learned from this? Your needles do make a difference — so if you are having trouble knitting something, ask yourself if a different type of needle might be worth a try.

The stole is a design of the KAL owner and it is knitting up into a lovely lace pattern. It has another first for me in that the pattern includes adding beads as you knit. The beads don’t really show up well in the pictures I have, but they are really good looking as part of the overall design.

Here are pictures of my stole so far:

Hint 1: Using Skacel Merino Laceweight Yarn,

US Size 3 Addi Turbo Needles and Ivory beads, size 8.

Hint 2:

Hint 3 came out this morning, so I need to start knitting. I’ll add pictures as I finish each hint.

Here’s a picture of just the Hint 5 section of the Secret of the Stole.

This picture really shows the detail of the pattern and you can also see the two beads that are at the top portion of the section. Isn’t lovely?