Pick a stole
I’ve been wanting to knit a stole for quite some time. Basic black to work with dresses when I go to musicals and ballets and weddings and that sort of thing. I’ve also been wanting to knit a MAJOR lace project, especially after seeing everyone’s beautiful creations during the Summer of Lace last year and throughout the year on people’s blogs. I was thinking about making a shawl, but let’s be realistic - it’s just not me. So, I think a lacy black stole is just what I want to do.
I picked up some yarn when HCW was having it’s store-wide anniversary sale. I looked at several different brands and knew I wanted something with at least a little silk so that the stole would have some sheen making it a bit more dressy for what I am hoping to use it for. The decision was easy when I came across this skein of Fino by Alpaca with a Twist. It’s 875 yards of 70% Baby Alpaca and 30% Silk.
Now that I have the yarn, I need to pick a pattern. Here are some ideas that I have come up with so far. If you have suggestions for others or comments on these, I’d love to hear them. I’m not sure when I’m going to start this project - the LSSK group I’m a part of is starting a Lace KAL on a specific project on June 1 and I’m probably going to do that as a warm-up so this may be on hold. But, I want to start collecting ideas and I figure input from others will help as well.
Here are the candidates so far:
Lacy Lattice Stole from Fiddlesticks 
Inky-dinky Spider Stole from Fiddlesticks 
Paisley Stole from Fiddlesticks 
Estonian Garden from FiberTrends 
Candle Flame Shawl from Knit Picks 
Hanging Garden Lace Stole from Knit Picks 
Mists and Mellow from Lavish Lace 
Gothic Leace Stole by Silvia Harding 
Evening in Eden Stole by Cabin Fever 
Song of Hiawatha by Hazel Carter 
Legend of the Shetland Seas by Hazel Carter 
Sampler Stole from A Gathering of Lace 
The Angela Wrap by Heirloom Knitting 
Print o the Wave Stole by Eunny Jang 
My initial thoughts on pattern selection:
- I don’t want a really simply pattern that just repeats the whole time because I think I will get bored with that. I would rather do a lace scarf instead of a whole stole - plus, I like to save the simple patterns for variegated yarns since those are the only patterns that look good with them.
- I don’t like fringe. Any of the patterns shown above with fringe - I would skip that step.
- I only have 875 yards so that might limit me a little in pattern selection, although I could probably skip some repeats or something. I’m not a big person so I can me a slightly shorter stole and it will fit me better.
So, please, if you have other suggestions or if you have comments on pros and cons of any of the patterns shown, please share! I look forward to hearing from you!