After some bummers in the course of choosing and getting the right yarn for the project, 2trees finally found what she needs in her stash! Now she is on her way through the base triangles:
Cheryl had a wonderful time meeting the Harlot in Bluegrass Festival of Book ... only that she was desperately in need of a sock project there! She did managed to have some knitting time for the stole on the car and is starting Tier 6.

Many of you are still working hard on the project: Dawn is on Tier 10; Katrina on Tier 13; Katherine Tier 16 and Heather is 1/3 of the way done. Very good job, ladies!

And save the most exciting news for last ... after finishing her FPS, Colette took up another challenging lace adventure - having her own design! So far, Merilyn's Stole is looking gorgeous and you should all go and have a look!

After restraining her need to light her FPS on fire, Kris has made it to tier 3! Look at how pretty her stole is......

I think it's so interesting how Kris' yarn is making each lace unit a different color - totally cool, right? Well done Kris!

(Agnes took over from here due to technical problem happening again in chez FluffyKnitterDeb.)

Laura finished the borders and ventured into the lacy tiers, thinking doing 2 tiers before the weekly update would be a reasonable goal ... instead she found herself engaged in Nupp Wrestling, which she thought should be a new item in Olympic Sports:But the Lily of the Valley lace is soooo lovely!

Peggy is moving into the home stretch of Tier 16! 3 more and she would be doing the finishing border. Go and read about her opinion of Clover and Brittany needles in lace knitting.

Polly sets herself the goal of starting a sweater project when she reaches midway of FPS:She is now on Tier 7.

Rebekah has finally finished with her baby gifts knitting, for the time being at least, and is able to work on her FPS.

Valerie hasn't had too much time to knit, but she managed to get lots of new yarns and new book. Her FPS is looking gorgeous too:
Congratulations to all you ladies! All your works are looking great.

Good things come in two

Hello everybody! I hope you all had an exciting weekend as I did! Before I tell you what the excitement was about, let's have a look at this week's updates.

New members keep coming in. This week, we welcome Katherine from New Zealand. She started the FPS project a couple of years ago and is taking her time working on it. Right now she is on Tier 14 ... 14! You are getting really close, Katherine ... keep going! She is using a pale blue mystery wool lace yarn she got from her LYS and she is very happy with it because it shows off the stitches very well:3.25mm metal is her choice of needles and she employs a small needle size when it comes to the nupps. Right now, she is aiming for the full 23 tiers.

Cheryl is having a take two on the project. In her own words, it is "sucking the life right out of her" ... go here to read about why ... and offer her some support.

Dawn is gradually progressing and she is now at Tier 9:
Colette finally got her FPS blocked ... and boy! the sage green is so suitable for this project:
Well, as the title suggested, good things come in two. There is one more completed stole this week:That's me! Yeah, I had been in an excited mood whole weekend because of it!

Well, that's it for this week. I hope the 2 FOs can serve as boosters to your knitting. :)

So much for a mega update :)

Only two updates this week so I'll jump right in!

Meg has discovered the secret to make her FPS a more enjoyable knit - she's knitting backwards instead of turning each row! She's gotten to tier 5...

I love that beautiful eggplant color and your stole looks amazing Meg!!

"The Blob" as Peggy likes to refer to her FPS is coming along nicely!

She's on tier 13! Lucky woman :) She's a little worried about her stitch definition because of the fuzziness of the alpaca but let's all assure her of the miracle of blocking! No worries, Peggy, it will block out just fine!

Have a great week, knit lots and for those in the US, don't forget the dreaded tax man!! :)

Hello again! Another week passed and here are this week's updates ... (and I have virtually run out of ideas for titles! hahaha ... )

Okay, it's a pretty slim report this week. First of all, I am done with the body of the stole and am marching into the border ... which is always a love-hate thing for me:The feeling of "so close, yet so far away" is killing, you know. But after finishing the Monkey socks, I would go back and finish it!

I just heard from Anne M, who has been busy with lots of baby knits for the 4 new family members. The stocking stitch made her long for the lace ... and now she is on Tier 8.

Denise is still extremely busy with the home remodeling project. But she is going back to Florida later this week, hoping that she can have some quality knitting time on the plane. Right now, she has just finished the top triangles:Don't be surprised if they don't look exactly like your top triangles because she used provisional cast on.

Finally, Heather is making steady progress of one tier a week ... she is on to Tier 6 now.

Slim pickin's this week

Must be cause it's Passover or spring break, or Easter week, or the moon is in the seventh house, or....? but the update pickin's are might slim this week!

Slim, maybe but very impressive nonetheless. Just look at this beauty!

Regina has 12 tiers under her belt and isn't that cashmere just delicious?

Finally, I too have an update!

Here at Chez FKD after finishing up my Carnival Throw that had been languishing for more than a year, I've finally gotten back to my FPS! I'm just about to start tier 4 and I'm really enjoying the process.

That's all for this week, enjoy whatever holiday you celebrate or whatever house your moon is in! See ya next week with TONS of updates (that's a HINT ladies!)

Proudly marching into the 3rd month

Yep ... no matter what stage you are in, feel proud because you are making something gorgeous! *grin*

Yet another new knitter joining ... let's welcome blogless Deb. She hasn't given me much detail about her plan yet, but I'll let you know once I get anything.

This past week has been bubbling with activities among us. Before leaving for vacation, Cheryl has a brief moment of being lost ... which side is the RS and which is the WS? Luckily, all were sorted out now. For those of you who haven't started yet, one way to avoid this confusion is to pin a tiny pin on the RS of the border as a reminder ... this is what I did.

Something exciting in chez Colette ... she has finished knitting the body of the stole! Woo hoo! Here is a close-up shot:You can see another shot of the whole stole on her blog. You are an inspiration, Colette!

Dawn is now on Tier 7. The light yarn on light needle is still a woe to her. Besides, she is considering whether to make 19 tiers or 21 tiers:
Denise is back from the gorgeous weather in Florida. She has just completed the base triangles ... this is a big leap because everyone would be eager to have these done so that they can jump into the beautiful lace! However, the FPS isn't the only big project on Denise's hands ... she is taking a 2-socks-on-2-circulars class and the huge project of remodelling her home! Good luck, Denise!

Heather is one crazy girl! Why? She is having 2 FPS on the needles ... AT THE SAME TIME! She is farther on the white one than the maple leaf one ... Tier 5. When she finishes the white one, there will be a happy lucky bride ... because this one is going to be a wedding gift.

Both Dorothy and Katrina are now halfway done. Katrina is hoping that the second half would go faster because she has memorized the patterns already. Don't worry, Katrina, that is exactly what is going to happen. ;)

Lastly, I have been pushing really hard on the stole too. Right now, I still have 3 more rectangles to go and then I would be done with the body and moving into the top triangles!I am really really loving this project!

WOW, lot's of news this week!!

Laura's got a great beginning. See?

She's decided she wants to do only two lace patterns on her stole but can't decide which two! Any suggestions for Laura?

Leslie is still busy practicing her lace units but she has begun her border.....use that new camera and show us some pics Leslie!! Leslie was also kind enough to let everyone know that The Alpaca Yarn Company now has an errata page for the FPS and will send out the corrections to anyone who's purchased the pattern! Thanks for letting us know Leslie!

After a pretty difficult beginning, Melanie has made some decent progress!

She admits she's been distracted by some other knitting projects but now she's a knitter with a *plan* so we should all see lots more FPS from Melanie!

Nancy has finally cast on too! Look at her lovely blue alpaca...

This is Nancy's travel and summer project (brave girl!) so she should have lots more to show us soon! And if you want to see some brilliant color and beautiful pics go have a gander at her lovely garden and her stunning quilt!

Talk about a close call! Opal accidently pulled a DPN out of one of her Lily of the Valley lace units!!

Luckily, she was able to jump in and rescue the escaping stitches before disaster struck! Be careful Opal, that stole is too pretty to lose!

Our Regina's been a busy woman! Not only did she celebrate a birthday and was wined and dined by a handsome gent, she still found time for her FPS! Look...

Hope your birthday was as lovely as your FPS is! Happy Birthday Regina!

Rochelle has been a busy bee! Look at her progress.....

She's already up to tier 15 and it's a beauty! Wow, nice job Rochelle! Rochelle is pretty close to finishing but she is thinking of doing less tiers because she feels the stole will be too big as written - is anyone else having the same thoughts?

Valerie too is finding her stole is coming out quite big! She's in the middle of tier 18 and she's thinking of stopping at tier 19 for a length that works for her. Her stole is just stunning....

at any length!

Can't wait to see it stretched out a bit and I know you're thrilled to be *this close* to the finish line!

Whew, my group has been very busy this week! Keep up the good work ladies, y'all all are my inspiration! See ya next week!

Spring is a fickle lady

... at least in this part of the country where I live. Last week it was all sun and shine, then it rained yesterday and today windy and cool. But perhaps we all have a spring lady in us ... flying from one project to another ... :) The update this week would be short. But first of all, let's welcome another new comer ... Cheryl of Diva Knitting. She would be using yarns from Alpaca Yarn Company ... details to be decided.

Anita is having a good start with the project:While you are reading this, I think she is well into Tier 4. Oh, she told me she was getting really good at knitting backwards. ;)

Dawn had a struggling moment choosing between FPS and Persian Poppy Waist Coat, a colourwork project. For this round, lace lost to colourwork. But I am sure she would pick up the stole very soon.

Heather found that she was progressing much better in her second attempt of the project. She is now halfway through Tier 4.

I put down the stole for a week to finish a pair of socks. Now that the socks are done, I am all ready for my lace again.

See you next week!

Is it Spring Fever?

Seems like everyone in Knitbloglandia is having a busy, busy Spring cause only TWO members of my group have updates this week!!

But oh what updates they are!

Opal has finally started her FPS and she's totally in love with it! She's using Zephyr in a stunning bottle green....Look at this beauty!

She's already past tier 4! Go, Opal, go!

Polly has another beautiful example of a black FPS cause Polly's using black Zephyr just like Agnes.

She's already on tier 2 and her knitting looks lovely but she still thinks the Lily of the Valley pattern is the enemy, hehe!

Everybody else seems to be knitting but either not the on the FPS, no pics or they haven't posted on their blogs in a while. I hope everyone is still enjoying the FPS and let's hope we can have some more updates for next week!

Have a great week and don't let the Spring Fever get ya!

No, I haven't lost my internet access

... and my computers are working fine. Only that the husband suddenly had a back pain yesterday afternoon, the usual time I have for posting, and decided to work from home. The laptop he used for work is, unfortunately, where I stored the updates! Really sorry about the delay. So, let's jump right into this week's update, shall we?

How about starting with moi this week? I devoted the whole week to knitting the stole last week and made significant progress:I am pretty excited, you know ... from Tier 12 to Tier 16! I just have about one third to go before the border, which I anticipate to be rather boring! :D

I know someone else was extremely excited the last week too. Guess who?Heather restarted the project using a cream/vanilla yarn and we can all see the beautiful lace patterns even without any "hand blocking"! She has close-up shots of each pattern on her blog. If I am reading her correctly, she is planning to make TWO Forest Path Stoles! Woo!

So, remember Denise who is on vacation in Florida with 5 kids? She is still having her sanity intact ... hehehe ... But can you believe it? She brought along the cone of yarn and the pattern with her! We'll see how she was doing after St. Patrick's Day.

Despite some frogging due to inattention due to familiarity with the pattern, Dorothy made it to Tier 10. Look at this pretty pink lady:The element of monotony does set in with such a big project. This is also why I would put the project down for a while once I made good progress. This way, when I pick it up again, I kind of having to get familiar with the patterns again.


Janine is already on Tier 3:Do you like how her modified version turns out? I think it is neat!

Kathy came to a realization at 10pm one night that she was not knitting the stole in the right colour! So, the green version was in the frog pond and she would be making a cream-coloured one ... the perfect colour for a masterpiece lace. I hope we would have a chance to see the new project soon.

Katrina is 1/3 of the way:From time to time, she needs to move on to something less brain intensive ... exactly how I feel!

I haven't heard from Janina for a week and it turned out she has lost her internet connection. During this time, she has done some "soul searching" concerning lace knitting. She conceded that having more than one lace project on the needles is something too much for her as a beginner lace knitter. She decided to focus her attention on the Swallowtail Shawl and put a delay on FPS. One very important thing as a knitter is learn to listen to that "little voice" within us. Let's wish her good luck with her Swallowtail Shawl ... which she wants to wear in June.

So, that's all about it for this week. I would try to be punctual next week! ;)

Ennui reigns in blogland but not here!

Except of course for me! Nothing much to show from yours truly, I've just started tier 3 and it looks pretty much like my last pic so I'll spare you the excitement :)

Opal's finally started but no pics - poor Opal, it's a dark day in Paradise Hawaii so no pics for us yet! She is doing well tho cause she's already on her third tier too! Can't wait to see some pics next week!!

Smart Peggy has found a way to make her FPS knitting less painful! It's working cause she's on tier 5! For those of you having difficulties following the charts, go pay Peggy a visit, I highly recommend her solution!

There are finally flowers in Polly's part of the UK!! No it's not an early spring, she's started her FPS! She's using pretty zephyr in black.

I know you're praying for uncharacteristically sunny days in England so you can see your FPS Polly!

Our newest "team" member Regina, has made a great showing, just look at her lovely stole.

She's using yummy cashmere in a colorway called Lemongrass and she's already on tier 3. Way to go, Regina!

Here's Rochelle's stole from a few weeks ago

She's even further along now, she's started tier 11!

Thus ends this week's installment of As the Lace Knits!

Since there is so much green yarn around here we all must be *honorary* Irish so Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone! May the Zephyr rise to meet you and your needle tips master every nupp! :)

It's been quiet lately

Another week, ladies! It has been quite a quiet week mostly because, I think, for those of us who have started, we've gotten into our own rhythm and kept knitting along; while for those who haven't even started, well, just remember to give me and Debi a shout if you do so that the group can cheer for you. :)

First of all, let me introduce another new member to the group. Blogless Amy is going to use Zephyr in Basil for the project. She is feeling excited about this project not only because it is gorgeous, but also it is her first project using laceweight yarns. She has made a Charlotte's Web Shawl using Koigu. I think you'll just need some time to get used to the laceweight, afterwards, it would just be like knitting any other weight yarns, Amy. Perhaps the best to get the hang of laceweight yarn is to swatch ... this way you can get to know what needles you like best too. Welcome to the fun, Amy!

Dawn found that she just couldn't work in the evening because the colour of the yarn is too close to that of the needles. So, she can only work every other weekend. But she is already onto Tier 5:


After reading last week's Tuesday update, Denise wondered if the calling for 2 different sizes of needles was once again the result of the difference between the magazine pattern and the individual pattern. Anyone knows? She hasn't started her stole yet as she is now enjoying a 10-day spring break in Florida ... with 5 college-aged kids!!!!! (One exclamation mark for each kid ... hahaha ...) She would be doing some needle hunting there too.

Poor Heather! After finishing Tier 4 and some hand blocking, she finally decided that the lace patterns won't pop out with the stripy colourway. So, all those efforts in the last 4 weeks were now put into the frog pond. {{{HUGS}}} She is now waiting for the new yarn in the Campfire colourway to arrive.

I think all of us have our own nemesis in lace patterns. For many, the lily of the valley lace is the first on the list because of the nupps. But for Janine, it is the birch leaf lace ... for some mysterious reason, she just couldn't get the decreases to line up correctly. So, she kicked it out of her stole and just knits the fern and lily of the valley. Interestingly enough, I don't like the birch leaf pattern either ... but not so much as to completely abandon it. :)

Kathy has returned and is about to start Tier One! Yay!

After messing around with other projects for a week, I finally returned to my black stole and am moving onto Tier 12. Since I bet you won't see the difference between a photo showing the stole at Tier 10 and one showing Tier 12, I spare you that one! I would be working on it mainly the following 2 weeks and hope to get more done.

Despite Gateway's best efforts, I'm back :)

And I'm here with lots of updates and progress pics!

Kris was having serious nupp issues until she discovered the *perfect* needle, and right in her own online store stock too! Viva le Inox Gray and viva Sonny and Shear! It should be much smoother sailing for Kris from now on!

If you want to read a great post about the love/hate feelings that the FPS elicits, go give Meg a read....she's made it to tier 2 and has some wonderful opinions to share.

After a rocky start with a pattern rife with errata, Melanie has finally ironed out all her issues and she and her FPS have fallen back in love! She's gotten thru her first tier and she's rocking the knit this time around! Look....


Have a gander at the yummy green Melissa is using for her FPS!

Her yarn is delicious but she's having a bit of angst over how long term a project the FPS is....does anyone else have any suggestions for keeping the project "fresh and new"? I suggested managing 2 tiers a week would get the stole done in about 3 months and for me, that's very do-able....anyone else have others tips to add?

Opal's finally finished her Hidcote shawl and it's stunning! Can the FPS be far behind? I wonder what yarn she'll choose, she seems to be a real Zephyr fan!

Looks like Peggy got those needles cause she's already on tier #4. Here's a pic from tier #3....
She's another one with that ole love/hate thing going on....she's worried all the shawl "irregularities" wont disappear when the stole is blocked. Let's all reassure her about the *magic* of blocking when it comes to lace!

We have a new member to our group.....go meet Regina! She's still waiting on her yarn to arrive but her pattern has made it's appearance (make sure to read about all the problems in the posts here to save yourself some serious angst grrlfriend!) She sure does have some pretty knitting on her blog so go make her welcome and say hello!

Even tho it looks like an unrecognizable blob, Valerie has made it to tier 13!!! WOO HOO Valerie, well done!

Can't wait to see that *blob* after a good blocking!

And last but not least, your fearless group leader, aka me! finally has some progress shots and a yarn that's a keeper (thank all things holy!) Have a peek:

It's Jaggerspun Zephyr in Juniper which is a lovely bluish green that reminds me of blue spruce Christmas trees! I love knitting with the zephyr and the color is just perfect!

Sorry for missing the update last week but things seem to be back to "useable" again so keep your fingers crossed for me!

Have a lovely, knitterly week everyone, see ya next Thursday!

Sorry I'm late!

Well well well, ladies, I am so sorry that I am a little bit late today with this week's update. But here you are!

First, Denise is in need of advice about the right needles:

"Can anyone recommend a circular needle in a bamboo (or wood), with a smooth join, in a size 2 needle. I'm finding I need a size 2 for the lace weight silk I'm using. I also need a bamboo because the yarn is so slippery and I'm such a loose knitter. I'm using Crystal Palace Bamboo right now, but the join keeps catching the stitches. I looked into the Bryspun but they don't come small enough."

Any thought? Any experience to share? Please feel free to give Denise your advice in your comment, or you can send me a mail and I can give you her email so that you can talk directly. Thanks for the help in advance.

Then another lady in my group needs some advice. Janina has recovered but since the hubby was having a week-long break from work, she was still too busy to do any knitting. She finally received her vanilla Zephyr (it's about time, I'd say) and she thought this "plain jane" colour would be best for showcasing the lace patterns. Very true ... though I think vanilla is "lovely jane" ... hahaha ... Okay, she has a question concerning needle size:
"I see that the pattern calls for different size needles -one for the seed stitch border and one size up for the lace. Has anyone done this, or chose to use one size for everything? Swatch, I must swatch to see what the difference is."
Honestly, I didn't notice the pattern called for different needle size ... but this is just normal for me who is always absent-minded. Again, feel free to throw in your opinions for Janina.

There are quite some setbacks among us this past week. Here 2trees thought that her multi-coloured yarn was good with the border and base triangles, but not so much with the lace panels:
So, she is going to frog this and start over with a solid colour which won't compete with the lace. The poor girl frogged 2 lace projects in one week!

Then Beth is still struggling with the unmatched number of stitches. With the advice of other knitters in her lace knitters group, she decided to start from square one ... with swatching and washing the swatch.

Janine is taking matters into her own hands. She doesn't like the pattern the way it is because it is just too busy for her. So, she is going to make great changes to the pattern so that she would get a stole that would suit her physique. This is what she has in mind:Turquoise will be the fern pattern, yellow will be the lily of the valley pattern and the grey will be as per the original - seed stitch. I think it is a pretty clever way to get something less complicated but retaining the spirit of the design.

Colette was having some knitter ADD and found it hard to concentrate on anything ... but she is now on Tier 15! Think where she would be when she gets rid of her ADD?

Besides having dyeing fun with her kids, Heather has been making steady progress. She is onto Tier 4:
Lovely, isn't it? I think the lace patterns would get more outstanding when the stole is blocked.

Katrina has made it to Tier 4:
*whispering* Go check out the car she bought the past weekend ... it's a mercedes benz!

For me, I haven't knitted a stitch on the stole the past week ... I was suddenly bitten by the Clapotis bug and just had to finish the impromptu project! I think I'll get back to the lace soon.

Technical Problem

If you are waiting to read updates on Debi's group, I'm sorry to tell you that it's not going to happen today. Her computers are both down and she has no internet access ... most probably for a few days. So, please go on with your knitting and check back next week. Wish you all a wonderful weekend ahead.

Here is a little something to motivate you ...

I am really sorry that I totally forgot this when I post yesterday. If you need a bit of motivation or incentive booster, go visit Rina's post here. She just completed her FPS ... and that's looooveleeeee! Since she used needles in a very large size, her stole is really large ... but beautiful all the same!

Some sad news, some good news

Yet another week went by. I have some good news and some sad news to deliver this week. Let's start with the sad news. With too many things going on, Julia sadly decided that working on the stole would just be too much for her. It is indeed not easy with a baby in the coming. But I do hope she would be able to pick up the project again ... no matter when. :)

Then, Janina has not been feeling too well, so not much knitting was done. Besides, the poor soul is still waiting for her Zephyr to arrive! Let's all send some good karma her way!

Now, some exciting news. Quite a few of us have made some progress. But before we get to that, I'd like to introduce Colette's new blog to you. It is still very new, but she has already put up photos of some of her beautiful knits ... wonderful projects indeed. Besides, she is now halfway through Tier 10:

Alison has been very excited about her first toe-up sock. I love knitting socks toe-up too, BTW. She has not ignored her FPS, though:

Anne M has been out of town for a week and has just returned. She is now ready to start on Tier 5. Photo will come when she gets more done.

Beth found it very hard to concentrate on the lace knitting when 2 little kids and one big kid were always around trying to talk to her! So her progress has been slow:
She is still having problem with the matching number of stitches. One tip from my experience, Beth, is that I always count that there are 20 live stitches to be matched before starting a new rectangle. I hope this help.

Dawn thought that she would be lucky if she could get a tier or two done in a week:
But as you can see, she has already completed Tier 3! As you get more done, you will also be more and more familiar with the lace patterns ... and you will get faster too!

Dorothy is now at Tier 6:

Finally, Heather was extremely excited over completing Tier 2, despite interferences from innocent cats and kids:
I think her multi-coloured yarn knitted up surprisingly well. Way to go, Heather.

Ooops, I almost forgot to add in my progress:
I managed to finish Tier 10 over the weekend. I am now at the stage when I can remember the 3 lace patterns by heart ... so things are going well ... and yes, I still have all the selvedge edges on the wrong side! :D