Mystery Stole 3--the Swatch




I've decided to try the whole Mystery Stole thing next month.

Here's my swatch:


Yarn: Misti Alpaca
Needles: size 4
Blocked Size: 4"x4"

I actually knit 2 swatches. The first one had a mistake on the last row and I didn't like the cast off so I tried again. In the second I alternated slipping one knitwise(column 1 & 3) and purlwise (column 2). Unless the pattern specifies, I never know which is the default one so I wanted to compare them.

My biggest problem so far is my cast off--I think it's still too tight. I even cast off with bigger needles and it was still tight. I may have to bring out the "table leg" 35s, seriously. Any tips would be appreciated, because I can't tell you how mad I'll be if I do the whole stole and the cast off ruins it.

Comments

Knitty Gritty Thoughts said…
I always think rule of thumb is two sizes bigger but it sounds like you already tried it? You could do an alternate, stretchy castoff to help alleviate it??
20 June, 2007 15:41
Stacey said…
I think it looks great...but I understand the too tight thing. Hmmm. I don't have any advice for ya. Are you going to use beads?
20 June, 2007 15:49
Anonymous said…
For lace work I use a special bind off. If only I could remember what book or magazine I found it in! Remind me to show you. It's easy once you see it but I don't trust myself to explain it right in words.
20 June, 2007 16:39
Terby said…
I think it's usually slip knitwise? Either that, or I am now totally confused. What did you decide worked better?
20 June, 2007 17:58
Laura said…
I've gone up a needle size and still bound off too tightly. I've used "stretchy" and "lace" cast offs, and still bound off too tightly. The only way (so far) that I've gotten a nice, loose cast off is with a crochet hook, and performing a single crochet bind off. It might be cheating (and doesn't always look right), but there you go.
21 June, 2007 02:45
WandaWoman said…
The swatch looks good. I've signed up for MS3 too. I must be crazy. I'm sure (if you read the list, way too much email), but they can give you more advice on the cast off.
21 June, 2007 10:48
Jeri said…
Which slip-wise did you like best?

And what size cast-off needle did you use? "They" always say go up a needle size but I never could get the cast-off loose enough for toe-up socks. Until I learned ez's sewn cast-off. But I've also recently figured out that if I knit a sock on a 1.5us (2.5 mm) needle and I cast off on a size 7us, it works for me. Yes, up that many sizes. Get out the broom sticks.
24 June, 2007 14:50
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