MS3 Clue 2 complete!

Clue # 2 is done! I actually finished clue 2 at 10:30 pm last night but it was too dark for pictures. I didn't want to quit knitting so you are also seeing 10 rows of clue 3. Clue 4 was released last Friday. I started two clues behind and this is where I remain. The stole should be 22 inches wide and right now mine is 22 inches wide and 20 inches long. I know there are a couple of beads missing on the left hand side but I am going to wait until later to see if I want to sew them on or just never point it out to anyone. I really doubt anyone will ever notice but me.

Can you see what looks like a Japanese dragon? No one knows the theme yet but I keep seeing a dragon face.

Here is a fuzzy close up of the bead work:

Can you see the little green, purple and blue shiny dots? They show up so nicely in person.

My cousin left a comment about not having "any idea what a clue is". Here is an explanation for all the non-knitting readers: The Mystery Stole #3 is a list group at Yahoo that 6700 women from around the world have signed up for. We were given suggestions for yarn and beads and a small swatch to knit. No one knows what we are knitting other than it is a lace stole. Each Friday Melanie, the designer, e-mails a pdf. file with a small piece of the pattern in chart form, usually about 50 rows. We all knit like mad and then sit back and look to see what we have made. There are many guesses as to the theme of the stole but so far no hints from Melanie.
This KAL (knit-a-long) has gotten unusual media attention because of the numbers that have signed up. Melanie was interviewed by USA today and mid August there will be an article about the group. There have also been links to various other small town papers. We are a bunch of knitting lemmings and the outside world finds this a little strange.

And I will leave you today with a Birthday picture. A. turned 14 last week. You can tell by the picture he was VERY excited for his Birthday. (He is the one they are trying to make smile)

I guess when you are a 14 year old boy it is a hassle to have a Birthday picture taken. (Note: only 8 of these children are mine.) More and more neighborhood kids show up everyday. We love the activity and wouldn't have it any other way!

New toy and MS3 Clue #1

We got a new toy a couple of weeks ago. A friend gave us this mini bike because it needed a lot of work and wasn't running. This afternoon we had a small engine guy from church come over and he helped us get the mini chopper going. It is still missing some pieces but it is ride-able. After a few minutes of instruction:

We are a motorcycle family....
F takes a spin.

Z gets into the action...

She asked to go with us to Sturgis - on this bike...um, no.

The bike will hold up to 300 lbs. so even Vince (who is no where near 300 lbs!) gets a turn...

And lastly, I take a spin...

Vince was heard mumbling "You'll never get your mom off that thing."

On a knitting note: I started the MS3 on Tuesday evening and finished clue #1 on Friday night. I pinned it out to check for errors and forgot to take the picture before taking out the blocking pins. So here is the unpinned version. I am currently on row 115. More pictures to follow... after another spin around the neighborhood on the bike.

MS 3

I joined very late. The 1st and 2nd clues were out already and sign-ups closed on Friday at midnight. I joined Friday afternoon. I spent the weekend looking at the different yarn suggestions on the internet and by Monday night had an idea of color and yarn type I wanted. I decided to see what the LYS had because if I ordered it would be another couple of days before the yarn arrived.

Below is my start. I am on row 37 of chart A:

The yarn is Misti Alpaca in navy (I wanted black but they didn't have it). Can you see the beads? There are three under my thumb and then every inch up the sides. They are minuscule and I am all thumbs while trying to get them on. I would be going faster if I didn't use the beads but I like the little bit (very little bit) of flash this adds.

This may be a Christmas gift, I am not sure yet. I know my Mother and Mother-in-law both read this...maybe they will forget about it by Christmas if I decide to keep it.

New Drivers

We have two new drivers in our house. K and M took Driver's Ed the same time since their Birthdays are three weeks apart. They could have taken Driver's Ed last fall but we waited and enrolled them in the first summer session. They attempted the test last Friday and M passed but K didn't which lead to many tears in the car on the way home. K is an honor roll student and I think she over stressed the test. M passed with the max number wrong available to pass but he is a boy and proud that he squeaked by the first time. So Tuesday we drove back to the DVS and K passed with flying colors. They turn 16 in late Oct and early Nov. but they need to have their permits for 6 months so they will attempt their driving test right after the New Year.

My husband is polling parents: Did you have rules for the first year of driving?
Things like cell phone off, no food or drinks in the car, no friends...?
We are formulating and wondering how to enforce these for safe, undistracted driving. Did you know they have new software now that will track where the car has been and how fast the car was going? It is very cool for parents of teenagers but also very expensive.

Oh, and we also have a 14, 13, and 12 yr. old so in three years we will have three additional drivers. I wonder what our car insurance bill will look like by then??!

Painting and knitting

There has been a lot of painting and a little knitting going on this last week. Since getting the house painted we have since painted our new shed to match the house, painted the interior of the front door and landing, painted the wall in the living room with new windows, and painted the hallway upstairs with the first coat. I still need to put the living room back together and paint the second coat on the upstairs hallway and do two coats of the downstairs hallway. This is all because we live in a split entry. Once you start with the front door, you have to paint 2/3 of the house to be at a place where it blends.

When I sit down for dinner and can't get up again, I knit. I cast on for my first Clapotis...yes, I am a clappy virgin. (Sounds kinky doesn't it?) I bought 3 skeins of Lion and Lamb in the Safari. I am loving the "animal print" pooling. I am almost done with my first skein. Since I only bought 3 skeins and the pattern called for 4 I eliminated one of the increase and decrease sections.
I also cast on another pr. of Monkeys last night in Regia. I'm not sure of the colorway but it has blues, and browns. So far no funky pooling. I must admit after working with the Handmaiden Sea Wool, Regia feels like I am knitting with steel wool. I am just spoiled. This winter my feet won't care. They will just be happy wearing pretty socks.

Hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July! Me? After breakfast at Caribou and a nice ride around Lake Minnetonka on the Harley, we painted all day. We were too tired to go out and find a seat for the fireworks so hubby fired off a few in our backyard.