FO: Mystery Stole 3

Well, I finally have another finished object to show off, The Mystery Stole. Those of you who have read my LJ will have seen this already and will see it yet again. *ahem*




I didn't see very many people actually doing this but I added an extra repeat because I love long stoles.

And now a little time line of the stole in progress:



Yarn: Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud in Iris Heather.
Needles: Clover Bamboo US #3s.
Beads: Hobby Lobby brand #6 white pearl applied with #14 crochet hook.
Time took: Finished about two weeks after the last clue was released.

Some things that I did to make this knitting easier:

1. A magnet board with little magnet strips. I always laid down the magnet strip above the line I was working on. This way I could see the line below and see what I was to knit into, whether it was a yarn over or a k2tog. This kept me from going too far off and if I dropped a stitch, I knew how to pick it up. I could also see if I missed a yarn over the line before, throwing off my count. It happened occasionally.

2. Life lines. Every ten rows I would put about three feet of waste sock yarn through the loops of my purl row. This saved me when I had some extreme stitch dropping. And though it took time, it was worth it every single time.

3. Blocking wires. It kept the edges of my stole nice and neat. This has nothing to do with knitting the thing but hey, T-pins don't always give one a nice and neat edge.

Also, my small opinion on Alpaca Cloud for those who are curious: It's a little slippery and likes to drop off my needles and run down, but it's not extreme. I also find it just a little ticklish because of the guard hairs left in. I wouldn't wear this next to my neck because the skin is more sensitive. But it's not itchy at all, on the contrary, it's very very soft.