My Mystery Stole #3 will now be known to me and mine as Dragon Wings.  In my opinion this is a much better name for my completed stole.  Let me explain.

I have decided not to do the “wing” section of the Mystery Stole #3. The theme of this stole is Swan Lake, because the designer developed an asymmetrical design with a pointed shaped end and a feathery wing shape to the other end. I had every intention of completing this stole as designed, but after seeing other’s finished stoles I realized that if I did complete the stole as designed I would probably never wear it.

Sometimes it pays to be behind others working on a project like this because you can see what the finished product will look like before you get there. Having said that, I am not fond of the feathery wing portion of the stole and have decided to follow (somewhat) the designer’s instructions for a symmetrical version.

Once I decided to knit the symmetrical version I wanted to knit this stole all in one piece (no grafting). I have the directions for completing the symmetrical version in all one piece, but as best I can tell the central swirl design is not there and I can’t get my head around charting the decreases to come to the point at the other end. SOOOOO, I am just going to do the two sections separately and graft them together. Stay tuned…..

Mystery Stole, Clue 4, Chart E is complete and as I was nearing row 302 on chart F (the row at which one must decide whether to lengthen the stole or not) I found an error I had made two rows back as I was nearing the end of row 297. I started tinking only to figure out that I had to fix the second row back, not the row I was tinking down to. The error was fixed by taking another needle and (carefully) tinking that lower row, knitting that row back correctly and then re-knitting the top, tinked row. If this is marginally confusing to you that is ok because it was ridiculously difficult to perform this task too. The stole is now back on track and I have decided to lengthen it as per the instructions. Here is the stole through row 299.

This is how I finished clue 3 of my MS#3. We went to Orange Beach, Alabama for some much needed R&R this weekend and this was my idea of time well spent.

I have to tink a row and I am excited about it. Let me tell you why. When I joined the Mystery Stole #3 group I really didn’t know why I was joining. Yes, there was a free lace knitting pattern involved. However, I do not own a stole, and had never thought about buying one, much less creating one. But, I guess I figured it was lace knitting with beads which I love, I already had the supplies on hand, which is rare and the Yarn Harlot (enabler that she is) sucked me into it with one blog post.

Now I am hooked. Not only because the stole by Melanie is quite beautiful, or because it involves beads and knitting combined. But I am convinced that there was even a larger reason for me to join the group, Friendship. You see, I have met many very wonderful knitters through the yahoo groups over the years. But, I have never found one that was right down the street from me until now.

Reba lives about 2 miles down the road from me and we met through the mystery stole #3 group. We met up for the first time this Saturday at Joe Muggs (Books-A-Million) and spent about 2 hours chatting and knitting. That is why I have to tink. We were both having such a good time that I got to the end of my chart and I still had about 10 stitches on the needle to go. It didn’t matter. I now have a lace knitting friend close by and that is definitely worth it. So, here we are with our stoles in progress.