A Red Honeybee

Why red? It's because when I asked my Mom what color shawl she would like, she said red. She always compliments my stoles and I wanted to make one for her. It's rather warm where she lives and I can't really make her scarves, hats, or gloves. I have given her many socks and one lacy scarf. I asked my Mom if she would wear a stole if I made one for her and she said yes.

When I bought the Honeybee Stole pattern, I really wanted to use my yellow cashmere yarn to knit it. That was back when all of those shawl/stole knitalongs were happening. I didn't have the time or free needles to work on it. When Dwight was home around Christmas, I had a lot of free knitting time. That's when I decided to make something for my mom. No, it wasn't going to be a Christmas present. I was actually thinking forward to Mother's Day in May. She picked the color and I wanted to pick a pattern that would keep my interest. Initially, I was going to knit something out of Victorian Lace Today, but I decided against that. I wanted something that didn't have a border because I was feeling lazy. ;-)

This pattern was a relatively easy lace stole pattern. The pattern is very thorough and includes both written and charted instructions. I did get bored knitting the second half. Would I knit this pattern again? I don't know. I would still like to knit it in the yellow yarn that I have, but there are so many lace patterns that I want to try out there. I didn't block this correctly. I knitted the large width and the petite length, but didn't block it that way. I'm not sure if I'm going to reblock it or not before giving it to my mom.

Details:
Pattern: Honeybee Stole by Anne Hanson
Yarn: Hengyuanxiang yarn (approximately 2)
Needles: size 3 Knit Picks Classic Circular
Final size: 20 inches wide and 93 inches long
Start: December 22, 2007
Finish: January 4, 2008

Look at that join in the middle!! I was so happy with how that part came out. I did a crocheted provisional cast-on. When it came time to do the second half, I did see that it wasn't lining up straight. I did have to fudge it a bit with increases and decreases.

What's next? I just bought some Dream in Color baby yarn from The Loopy Ewe that was going to be the Inky Dinky Spider Stole. The yarn arrived yesterday and it's just as nice as the Smooshy or Classy yarns. It is a slightly thicker lace weight and I'm not sure if I want the spider stole to be a heavy stole or a lighter stole. That has been set aside for now while I think about it.

What's really next is the Spring Surprise Stole. I'm going to use some pink Colourmart 2/28 cashmere to make a finer, airier stole. I plan on using size 2 (2.75mm) needles with it. The cast-on is 138 stitches, so the stole would be huge if I used regular lace weight and my usual size 3 needles. There are two clues out so far and I plan on working on those this weekend.