Time Flies

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I was going to write this great big post about the Mystery Shawl and how I finished clue three and I think maybe I’m addicted and I can’t stop but I have to because clue four doesn’t come out until Friday morning…

Ms331807

but it turns out that my big super-exciting knitting company from Michigan is making much better time on the highway than I thought and I haven’t vacuumed and my hair is bad and I don’t have clean pants and I didn’t get to the grocery store yet and it’s all because I sat and knit lace. The only reason I’m even writing this is because I ran out of chart.

I gotta go. You know, if you looked up the exact opposite of “time management? It would be me.

165 thoughts on “Time Flies”

  3. It might be me. I have a bare 10 days to finish my manuscript before the kids get through with camp and we go away for 2 weeks of family togetherness in northern VT and what did I do but piss away an entire morning doing nothing useful at all. Well, I washed the sheets that were covered with Pirate Booty crumbs. Nothing ELSE useful. Foeey. Am I first??

  4. I am so with you on being the exact opposite of ‘Time Management’ … especially when an addictive project like MS3 comes along. I’m curretnly on row 187 and should be ready for clue 4 on Friday.

  5. The 401 is a quick trip to Toront from Detroit. I thought DC drivers were bad. . . goodness.. . driving thru Toronto at 95 miles an hour (I don’t know what that is in km) with people still passing you is NOT for the faint of heart!

  6. Ditto. Very nice.
    I finally blocked my Icarus shawl last night that has been sitting in a bag for the last 3 months.

  8. There is a separate way in which Knitters keep time, it is called Knitting Time Management…. All Muggles should take note. All Knitters will already totally understand this.

  9. I’m with you on the time management. I finished my 3rd clue on Monday. Today I had to stop by the friendly welding shop to get some blocking wires. I did that instead of shopping for groceries.
    Blocking wires are more important than supper, aren’t they?

  11. Clean pants??? …and you are at home, not on the road. We Michiganians aren’t too particular. Take them to your stash. That should give you enough time to shower while they try to break their stare.

  13. It seems to me if they know you’ll, they’ll get “I knit lace. I didn’t have time to grocery shop for you.”
    And you’re being cagey about the exact identity of your company, which means an exciting blogpost is in the offing…

  14. In computer circles we call that “Ooo, shiny” syndrome. It goes like this.
    “I must do this thing, then that thing”
    “I must do this thing, then that thing”
    “I must do this… ooo, look at that shiny thing!”
    And poof! Before you know it, you’ve wasted an entire afternoon not doing this thing then that thing, but, instead, looking at all the cool stuff.
    Ever wondered why computer professionals work at night?
    Stuff isn’t shiny at night.
    🙂

  15. I have to say that I’m impressed. I’m working on a “lacy” shawl for my sister, but I’m using a DK cotton yarn so I don’t have to knit as many stitches as you do. I hate it. I hate all the yarnovers and the decreases. I can’t wait to finish it because I hate it so much. I work on it because I want to finish it. You work on your shawl because you love it.

  16. Now Melanie is putting all this pressure on to block and make sure you want that to be 1/3 of the length of the shawl so you have to decide, what feels like “Right Now!” Then there’s that whole ominous warning about a lifeline in row 287 and the fact that she thinks it HAS to be in that row. It makes me cringe in anticipation…. Btw knitting first, company second. Always. Period.

  17. Wait, isn’t the shawl a different color than when you started it? It was greenish when you started it, I could swear, and now it’s cream — that’s how it looks on my computer. Am I crazy?
    BTW, I had to go all weak and buy myself yarn to do the MS3 this weekend (I had already signed up for the clues).

  18. Time management is over-rated. Every time I get my act together (as much as I ever do) I realize that I’ve missed out on something way better than what I was working on at the time. Besides, your knitting company is going to be far too enchanted with the lace to even notice that you have hair or a house!

  19. The prior post about TV got me to thinking about how well I do, or do not, manage my non-TV time. THEN I realized I am capable of the ‘sit and knit’ (slowly because of the arthritis) amidst tasks and paperpwork piles that need attention. So, breaking the wooly-mind-meld, I did three things and felt so accomplished…that I went back to knitting.
    hmm…somehow I don’t imagine Michigan knitting company is traveling to see a spic ‘n’ span YH house.

  22. If I had a dollar for everytime company caught me vaccuuming, drying my hair, shoving dirty dishes into the oven or shoes into the closet; I’d be rich. It’s the knitting, it’s really the ultimate time suck.
    And let’s not even mention the times I’ve come into work bleary eyed because I HAD to finish a project…. I think when I tell my co-workers that I was up until 2am knitting they think that’s a euphamism for something illegal.

  23. Probably a good thing you only get a chunk of the chart at a time, yes?
    That way you don’t sit down and stop eating, drinking and sleeping for hyooge amounts of time, just small snippets here and there.
    I actually took a day off last week so I could finish Clue 2. That’s addiction at its finest 🙂

  24. Wow – that is looking so beautiful. I am such a pitiful knitter – I am just through chart #1 – with 2 and 3 to go and another chart is out on Friday!! I obviously have my priorities backwards – what am I thinking!!! Darn work anyway!!

  25. Yummy lace knitting…
    Just because you have different priorities than some doesn’t mean yours are wrong. Knitting should come before grocery shopping. What if you realize you need something while you’re knitting? Then you can add it to your list. I’m sure you were thinking of grocery shopping while you were knitting, right? Yeah.
    Sounds good, right? By the way, I must have done something REAL good that I forgot about, or maybe in my sleep. Hubby just bought me $50 worth of stuff that has been in my “stash” on KnitPicks, including the EZ book that has the baby surprise jacket and YOUR CAST OFF BOOK!!!! I’m currently alternating sitting by the window watching for the mail and working on my broadripple sock from knitty.com for the county fair. I just love how knitpicks calls it the stash instead of the cart.
    But anyway, put out some pretty yarn and knitting in strategic places and they won’t notice you didn’t vacuum. Or dust. Works for me.

  26. But my picture would be right next to yours!!!
    Beautifully done!
    Because of your blog, My mom and I both signed up, and I just got my beads Monday, but I have to finish my son’s clogs (my 2 girls are done, so I HAVE to do his…) Thank goodness they go quick!
    I will be right behind you, soon!

  27. Um… Steph… There is no chart this week, remember? It isn’t being released because of the new Harry Potter book. Next week there will be another one… Can you make it to then? 😉

  29. Ooooooo, pretty. Mine looks all wonky. I’m not exactly sure, but I don’t think there will be a Clue 4 until the 27th…Harry Potter release and all.

  35. That’s one seriously gorgeous mystery you’ve got shaping up there. I’ve never heard of this type of project before and am thoroughly intrigued. Methinks this makes you a “serial knitter.” Sounds delightfully dangerous, no?
    And is it a poor reflection on my social life that I follow your blog and all the clever posts so closely that I might actually have an inkling of who’s visiting you? 😉

  36. Aaargh! Keep reading reminder blog posts these days! First Alison’s post about Sockapalooza4 … then yours today … reminding me to vacuum … ::clenching teeth:: … but really, big thanks for that.
    ::off to vacuum::

  38. Well, they have their priorities straight, right, knitting and spinning first, then feeding the people that live off of you, then giving Sir Washee something to do, and if time is left, vacuuming.
    I am not participating in the MS3, but, I do understand you are all getting a big clue this week, and no clue next week, as people take time out to read a bit. (I know Friday night I am going to be doing my Molly impression, while waiting with several young ones at a bookstore.)

  39. About “time management” – Let me put it this way: picking up MS3 for “a few stitches before I go to w*rk” is not conducive to catching the bus. You’re bright enough to figure out how I know this.

  40. But really, what’s more important than knitting? (maybe chocolate, but surely not clean pants and vacuuming). A girl’s got to have priorities!

  41. Ummm.. Steph.. I haven’t even BOUGHT my yarn yet (I have no laceweight yarn in my stash). You’re heaps ahead of me. BUT.. I have 2 weeks after clue 4 comes out to catch up.

  43. Well, if you don’t have a new clue coming till NEXT Friday, clearly the only viable solution is to start a second Mystery Stole to last you until then.
    Whatever you do, do NOT finish another project you have on the needles.

  44. *Knitting* company? Methinks they are the most likely to forgive, nay, completely overlook the unvacuumed floors, dirty pants, or lack of groceries if you let the shawl sit out there in plain view.

  45. As per your usual, the knitting is beautiful. To hell with housework it will be waiting for you. I am sure that your guests will understand. cecilai

  46. As per your usual, the knitting is beautiful. To hell with housework it will be waiting for you. I am sure that your guests will understand. cecilai

  49. Just tell them that you were waiting for them to get there so that you could all go to the store together so they could pick out the things that they liked. 😉
    The stole is so pretty.

  50. Time management? What’s that?
    *rescues the alpaca from Matisse*
    Oh yeah. Me? I’m waiting for lace management. I -want- to do the ms3. I have the needles. The laceweight. But I am not feeling the love. I know. Something’s wrong with me.

  52. It is good to know someone else is frayed around the edges because of the mystery stole too.
    My symptoms are eerily similar:
    *no food in the house except peanut butter (I broke a personal vow yesterday and ordered pizza!)
    *not a stitch of clean clothing to wear (which wouldn’t be so bad if I didn’t work outside of the house)
    *hair frizzy and “not clean” (pony tails rule!)
    *all the recycling is piled on the counter waiting for someone to take it out. (And the dogs aren’t volunteering)

  53. Knitting looks beautiful!! but more importantly.. YOU ARE FINALLY COMING TO CT!!!!!! woooo hooo
    yay!!!!!I can’t wait , it’s on my calendar already.

  54. Well, I have swatched and frogged a mere 19 rows of the MS3, Clue ONE–and now I’m waiting for new beads. And maybe new yarn too. So that’s a whole lot of catching up to do. Yours is gorgeous & inspiring (or should I say enabling?), btw.
    Meanwhile, my Kauna wool has arrived, and there’s a KAL for that too. Good thing work finishes in 2 weeks because there’s a whole lot of knitting to be done!

  55. I am a teacher on holidays. What time management skills? I’ve been doing what I please, when I please, for several weeks now. I’ve made a few socks and done a lot of painting. In between I run around and do a bit of housework, like rubble out the fridge or clean the guinea pigs cages. I had to, there were flies buzzing around. I cannot think about the end of August. Keep painting, keep knitting…

  56. I greet the day Armed with a list of Things To Do and the doorbell rings.
    The postman. With two boxes of suri alpaca fleece.
    Um, what?

  58. In my opinion, the best time management strategy I ever learned came from my yoga teacher back in 1969 – It. Is. Always. NOW.
    I manage to avoid paying bills, trapping the injured raccoon who’s wandering the neighborhood, and cleaning house in order to knit. And grocery shopping? Only when I’m down to stale GrapeNuts and orange juice that could be used to patch holes in a dike.
    All hail the magic of string!

  60. Knitters understand. But then the words ‘knitting’ and ‘time management’ really don’t belong in the same sentence . . .

  61. If I remember correctly this weeks clue is coming out on Thursday due to the Harry Potter release and then there will be no clue next week so we can read and then knit.

  62. Think there is a Procrastinator’s Anonymous anywhere out there? I would join, but I’m working on my own Mystery Stole, maybe later after I finish the laundry and the dishes, but first I need to finish at least clue 1 before clue 4 comes out.

  64. Ohmygod that is gorgeous – even unblocked it makes me drool. I may just have to start a lace shawl now that I’ve finished baby M’s Debbie Bliss Baby Bolero (which is even cuter in real life than in the photo).

  66. OMG, I am SO addicted.. but slow. Isn’t it great?!? If only I didn’t have to work 10 hours a day and deal with a 2 yr old afterwards, I too MIGHT be caught up with chart D. As it is, I’m in the middle of chart C. I LOFF it and your lace is quite spectacular! I’m totally envious.

  68. I feel your panic. I was knitting lace all weekend instead of packing for my camping trip because I knew I could pack on yesterday… then yesterday the silky wool arrived in the mail for my Kilronan, so I immediately knit my gauge swatch and cast on rather than pack. I leave tomorrow, so I guess tonight’s the night. I know at least my yarn will get packed. 😉

  69. Beautiful! The only thing keeping me from the mystery shawl is that it’s a triangle one, and I am not a fan of the triangle one. I should get over myself, though – I just happen to have all the supplies for this, including the beading.

  70. Dude. It became really clear during your most recent traveling/speaking/shopping/knitting Tour that you do more before 9:00 AM than most of us do all day. And let’s not forget the sheer speed at which you knit. If you hadn’t let on how fast you knit, we’d never know that you could knit a sweater and then sit around for a couple of weeks, picking cherries or chasing squirrels or whatever. Because MOST of us do not knit a large Pink Thing in ten minutes. Most of us (well, okay, it’s probably just me) spend TWO WEEKS knitting one man’s sock and then have it turn out to be totally the wrong size. (Hypothetically speaking, of course. But I am STILL sulking. I had to knit a child’s pair of basic stockinette socks in two days just to prove I wasn’t a complete failure at this knitting thing.)
    Laundry, however, I can do really fast. I’m good that way.
    Barb

  72. I haven’t even started MS3 yet as I plan to get the yarn at the Midwest Fiber Festival on Saturday. I hope I can catch up while everyone else is reading Harry Potter.

  73. Oooh… that’s looking gorgeous. I can’t wait until my lace from KnitPicks comes in. I’m jonesing for more lace (and your pics aren’t helping, LOL)
    (slight hijack)
    Ginny, Tallahassee Harloteer, do you know any stitch n bitch’s in town? I’m a newbie to the knitting world and want to meet other knitters IRL here in Tally.
    (end slight hijack)

  74. Yummy! Whatever it is, it’s going beautifully. Wish I had the patience for lace – I’m so slow that it would end up being my (unfinished) burial shroud. At least I finished a sock and actually started the second one!

  76. If you think your time management skills are lacking, mine must be non-existent. I am so far behind on my MS3, and I have somehow acquired deadline knitting that still has me puzzled. Not the knitting, but how I came to agree to knit it.

  78. “Mea maxima culpa” about giving Tally Harloteer information without first drooling and sighing, wishing and hoping that I too could learn to knit lace. But my fingers will not do what the instructions say and I end with a big knot. Not (knot) what I intended. So I keep socking along with six on the needles. None will be part of a pair though. That second sock really tests my ADD. Hmm, what?
    OT to Chris B in Tally. Maybe we could arrange an unruly mob of Tallahassee Knitters to go to the Atlanta reading!
    Call Really Knit Stuff. 850.907.3590. Paula or her DH can fill you in on the Borders Knit Night and the Saturday Knit O Rama. If posting this was wrong, my deepest apologies and I will NEVER do it again.

  80. This is precisely the reason why I resisted signing up for MS3. Except, now it seems that everyone is playing and I feel left out! I must come up with another spontaneous project to suck away my time 🙂

  81. Yep, knitting lace when you should be doing something else can really be a problem. I hope you find clean pants and you can make the house look clean.

  82. That’s OK – I should be practicing because I have a entire concert program to learn by Saturday that I am completely unfamiliar with but I’m also knitting MS3 – but mine is nowhere as beautiful as yours, it has multiple errors in it. So be it!

  84. I understand, you should do all that other stuff, but you couldn’t, and now you feel bad. I’m sure you’ll scramble around and get things sort of tidy in time. Wet wipes will take most spots off clothes. tee hee.
    My MS3 is only getting to the end of Clue one. I am NOT posting pics until I finish clue one! Almost there…

  85. These comments are very comforting, I just discovered I’m not the only one who picks up their knitting in the morning, still in their jammies. Knitting follows coffee, everything else follows knitting.

  86. Um… Time management? If we were into time management, would we knit? When we could buy perfectly serviceable socks for $2?

  87. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE COME TO FORT WORTH! I’D EVEN BE WILLING TO DRIVE TO DALLAS! PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!

  89. I love the lace. I’m doing MS3 too, but i’m spinning as I go. I’ve only gotten up to clue 1 done, I’ve just plied some yarn, so I can start on clue 2, and I have flicked some fiber so it can be washed so it can be spun for the other clues. Time Management. I don’t understand that. Does not compute!

  90. Looking good! I also have nooo time management skills whatsoever. I procrastinate to the extreme.
    I’m still working through clue two on this thing. I just don’t have the time to concentrate on it!

  91. I just looked in a “Dictionary of Synonyms and Antonyms”, and you’re not in there.
    I didn’t check under “preoccupied.”

  92. OK! BUT – you are coming to WICHITA!!! What can I bring you – besides beer? Cause I’m in Oklahoma and its really beer flavored water, remember? Also 9/16 is a Sunday. Anything Oklahoma related? I can’t bring a 1st sock, or a baby. I can bring Cute Boys! Hmm – 2 months to think about it!

  93. Hey! I’m back from my annual MI trek ~ Ann Arbor in the summer is a lovely place. The mess I came home to is a little demoralizing… dirty surfaces, sticky keyboard, I can’t even go on. As a nice distraction I caught up on your adventures in knitting. But alas, back to the trenches. (ps – it was only DH at home :~{)

  94. –Un-vacummed?
    Knitting company will be looking at the yarn and the UFOs and FOs and talking a mile a minute about knitting.
    –Bad hair?
    Knitting company will be looking at the yarn.
    –No clean pants?
    Knitting company will be looking at the yarn.
    –No groceries?
    Knitting company will be looking at the yarn and quite glad to absent-mindedly eat takeout of some sort. (Family is old enough to fend for itself while leaving you two alone to look at the yarn.)
    –Ran out of chart?
    Showing the knitting company yarn and talking with them will distract you – unless you and knitting company start talking about MS3, and even then you’re not likely to repine too much until they have to leave.
    What time management problem?

  97. oh bless you for sharing that! so many times i think there are moms among us who struggle under the terrible burden of the belief that they are the ONLY women not running immaculate, organized, time-managed households brimming with obedient and good-natured, co-operative children. and then! someone, somewhere reveals the truth that most, if not ALL of us, are wading knee-deep in unfolded laundry (both clean and dirty), the dog missed her shots at the vet, supper will consist of something involving peanut butter and no one can sit on the couch because where else would you keep your latest knitting project(s)? thank goodness for the “sisterhood of the magic sticks”. 🙂

  98. Dorothy, dear, there is no Procrastinators Anonymous. The would-be leaders keep meaning to start one, but they haven’t gotten around to it just yet. They’re probably busy knitting mystery stoles like the rest of us.

  100. Hey, guess what!?! We are at the same place on the Mystery Stole, have similar yarn, and they even look the same. I, too, can’t wait for Clue 4.

  101. ummm why would anyone have visitors that werent knitters?
    Madame De Farge the obsessed

  102. Looks like you “manage” your time just fine, you are, after all, THE Yarn Harlot! What else should you really be doing but knitting. The other stuff is just stuff! It is lovely!

  104. Yesterday you mentioned stopping in Wichita KS in September. Where and when????? (PUUULLLEEEZZZ!!!!)

  105. Manage shanage– I’ve never known anyone to get SO much done in one day as you do, including knitting on that beautiful shawl.All will be well and the company you expect to arrive MUST know that knitting comes first . Have a great time .

  106. I am a little further behind in the mystery shawl than you are (partly due to having to rip it out after clue 1 ended up lopsided). It is nice to see what is coming, especially since I can’t for the life of me picture lace knitting from looking at a chart. Have to get back to taping the dining room and painting, which could be another reason for little progress.

  107. I am soooooooooo soooooo jealous. I have only gotten through clue 1, I still have 2 and 3 to go. oh….no clue this friday….we have a harry potter break. Hopefully I can get caught up.
    you mystery stole is breath taking.

  108. The swift and graceful person that I am stumbled onto this cool-aXX site.
    Would someone direct me to a FAQ page or fill me in on how to join the MS3 challenge?
    Thx!
    lini99@gmail.com

  109. Ha ha! Ran out of chart! Usually one runs out of knitting. I’m about half done clue three, I plan on doing some serious knitting tonight. 🙂

  111. We hippy freak mamas can’t be bothered with time management. That’s what those young, able children are for. I’ve found mine has a fondness for changing sheets and sorting laundry, bless him.

  112. Oh, you would find my name there too…just ask my husband as he wanders into the messy house, no clothes folded ( washed though!) or put away, toys everywhere, dishes need doing, and here I am either knitting or reading blogs. Sigh. Time Management. What a concept. Wish I could get it into my skull… and knit much faster!

  113. I’m in the stage of:
    Good Angel: “Must knit sock pal socks. You still have feet and toes to go.”
    Bad Angel: MS#3…. You are two and a half clues behind……
    Good Angle: Steph says to Finish your socks and post them this week.
    Bad Angel: She is showing pictures of Clue 3, you are SO behind….
    Me: Shut up BOTH of you and let me KNIT!!!
    PS Wichita KS?????? Where and WHEN!!!???!!!

  114. Good time management is doing the important stuff first, and fitting the rest in if and when you can. In what way are you deficient in this area?

  115. Let us not contemplate the ways I suck at time management. It’s not even amusing. I used to be better at it. I don’t know, my brain got full or something.

  116. So that’s what the shawl is supposed to look like. i have been knitting and unknitting rows 21 to 31 At least twice now and the only Reason i can concentrate on it now is that the power is out and there goes my plan to vacuum tonight (darn).

  118. Procrastination. Please, the definition of procrastination is a high school/college student. It’s the way we are.
    If you wanted to make it last, you could just make another one and double up. >XD

  119. Oh, but it’s so worth it for lace like that! And true knitting friends will understand.
    By the way, I have to tell you that you gave me a whole new perjorative term for people and things that irritate me: rat bastard. It just covers a multitude, doesn’t it?

  120. After coming all the way from Michigan to see you, what they want to see is: YOU! No one will notice what you “shoulda” done (unless you show them the list). Have a wonderful weekend!
    The shawl is so very beautiful. Imagine what you will accomplish waiting for Clue 4!

  122. Lots of competition in this group for Ms. Anti-Time Management.
    I really appreciate MP’s info on “shiny things.”
    Yeah, blocking wires might be more important than cooking dinner tomorrow.

  123. oh, pretty. I also am absolutely addicted to the MS3. Because I did nothing else but knit I finished Clue 3 on Sunday. Which is good because now I have time to do other things, oh like pack for my month long trip to Africa next week. No big deal.
    Really what I am concerned about however is that Clue #4 comes out on Friday and it is a extra big clue to tide us over for two weeks. EXCEPT that I leave the country on Monday. For 3.5 weeks which means that I will be so behind when I get back and I really really really think I need to finish Clue #4 before I leave. This might take all my time.
    My husband thinks I should work on things like cleaning the house so that his parents can take care of our pets while we are gone OR pack.
    I think he is being silly. He doesn’t understand the magic joy of mystery lace emerging in your hands and the absolute excitement of putting on a bead.

  124. As I projected, this is the best bang for my buck entertainment wise since I picked up my first skein of Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn…
    You all just keep knitting the MS3, and I’ll kick back, knit my lowly monkey socks, and laugh and laugh…

  125. Still, the lace is lookin’ good!
    Have you ever looked into FlyLady.net? (NAYY) Letting her remind me of things via e-mail every day, and doing just a bit here and a bit there, I feel much more on top of things house-wise (and it does actually make you feel better!).
    And, did I say, the lace is lookin’ good!

  126. Thank you for posting about the MS3. I wouldn’t have even known about it except for you. I too am enjoying knitting this stole. Yours is Beautiful!

  127. Ah yes, I was very addicted when I started it but had to set it aside for PhD style deadlines and haven’t got back to it since. It’s nice to see what mine will (or is that should?) look like when I get that far 🙂

  128. Time Management is an oxymoron.
    Time is an intangible concept and to try to manage something you cannot control would be nonsensical.
    And no-one will look at your trousers or your dust if you flash your MS3. Problem solved!

  129. I am a couple of weeks behind…got on just as she was closing MS3…At work it is all I can think about (bad, very bad) so I called Hubby from work and told him to pick himself up something for dinner on the way home and warned him I was spending the evening with the MS3…turned off the phones and spent a blissful 3 solid hours on it…almost done with 1st chart…problem is I have a spinning/weaving deadline for a dear friend’s wedding shawl!!!! But I HAD to take this time for myself…this is such a delight to knit! And yes, very very addicting!!! I am sure your friend will understand about the way you spent the day….I can see him/her drooling over your lace work and not noticing your pants, dust bunnies nor mind a quick pizza for dinner. After all..he/she is a knitter!!! Never, never feel quilty about knitting for heavens sake!!!

  130. Wow, that lace is soooo beautiful! I almost feel like resurecting my little pink summer cardigan that I banished to the “will try again later” basket. It has a very pretty lace panel knitted sideways round the middle – trouble is, it drives me crazy ( crazier!). However, seeing as it is Winter here at the moment, I guess I have time to get it done by Summer??? Might try some of Steph’s time management skills??!!

  131. I’m addicted to the MS3 as well. Mine is turning into a monster (too long really) but I’m excited about it anyway and happy that I read your blog that day!
    I’m a graduate student working on my thesis and traveling to England to give a paper on Tuesday- and my time management consists of knitting and wishing I had the willpower to say no and get some work done.

  132. I, too, am one of your fellow MS3’ers that fell down the rabbit hole because of your blog post. Didn’t realize how much the project would mean to me, because right after I got the first clue (late, because I signed up just under the wire) our dog suddenly passed away, leaving us all feeling quite disoriented. MS3 has become my way of focusing when that empty space gets to be too much.
    Thanks, Steph, for introducing me to this project. I can’t believe what a comfort it’s been.

  133. Steph, I’ve just finished Clue 1 and a wee bit of Clue 2 because it’s so ***!!!”””$$$ hot here I haven’t knit anything much but cotton sox all week. So…I could lend you my stole to work on till tomorrow — if you weren’t *there* and I weren’t *here*…

  135. Not getting to the grocery store because all you did was sit around and knit. Love it. I do it all the time.
    Oh, and that shawl… ditto to all the other comments.

  137. I just wanted to swing by and say “YOU ROCK!!!!!!”
    We will be moving from Oklahoma to North Western Montana in about a month and I am going to make sure to have your books for my daughter to read aloud during the boring parts. We crack up and are sometimes scared at how so many aspects of your books totally discribe us. Thank you for writing them.

  138. I’m still in the middle of clue 3 myself, having taken time off to finish reading the HP books before Saturday. I can’t wait to get back to it, and I love seeing pictures of your progress! 😀

  140. Beautiful!
    I am on a limited time schedule myself and getting nothing done.
    Oh man – sometimes it is just a relief to know I am not the only one.

  142. Knitting up the available clues was actually a wise choice – at least you won’t be trying to knit from a chart with no memorizable pattern while you are trying to talk to your knitting company! That definitely calls for a simple shawl or straightforward socks or something else that you have memorized (baby sweater, etc.).
    And now we are all waiting for today’s mystery to be revealed – who might the Michigan knitting company be? Are you afraid to say in case we all show up to party with you?

  143. Much ado about something…
    How can I find out more about MS3? Is this from Yarn Harlot to her follwers?
    Thanx.
    (I’m new to this site, bet you couldn’t tell.)
    Linda
    Detroit, Michigan

  145. Atlanta, Georgia????? I think you should go further south to Florida. But I have my reasons why.
    On another subject, I am wya tempted to pick back up my MS3 and do more work on it….. You make it look gorgeous!!!

  146. I noticed on your tour that you’ll be visiting Wichita, KS. That isn’t where I live though. I just visited KS and I’m sorry I don’t live there because I won’t be able to see you on your tour. I propose a solution. I live in a suburb of Jacksonville, FL. Jacksonville is a very nice place with a lot of knitters that love your books, knitting, patterns and blog. Please, please, please visit us here! Pretty please with a cherry on top =)
    It would make me, and many others very happy!

  147. I’m way down in the southern tip of Florida and just had to add my voice to those clamoring for you to tour in Florida. I’ve actually made arrangements to come up to CT to see you next month(and to visit a friend). But most definitely still want you to come to FL!
    And yes, I’m addicted to MS3 as well, initially led there by your post about it. I’ve delayed running errands for 2 days in a row now, just so I can have more knit time. It’s been a happy exercise in willful oblivion.

  149. I thought I was the only one that didn’t get to the grocery store with bad hair and no clean pants. It’s nice to know I’m not alone in time MISmanagement.
    Whatever the case, the stole looks fabulous, I hadn’t seen it complete with clue 3 yet and YOURS is the only one I’ve been able to see the beads on! Great picture!

  150. Absolutely gorgeous, Stephanie! Makes me wish I’d learned how to knit properly before switching over to crochet. Oh, and love the blog. And I think we may be related, what with how obsessed over our yarny goodnesses we are…

  151. I can’t WAIT to see this when it’s blocked. It’s already fantastic…I can only imagine how much detail the blocking will bring out. Sweet!

  152. You have to be the fastest knitter ever – I can’t get over all that you do & the amount of knitting you get done! I have such a hard time staying on task – too many WIP’s pull me from one to the next.
    The shawl is lovely!

  153. Come to Tallahassee! I read your blog everyday and I’m addicted to MS3. Also, Tallahassee knitters can email me @ skm02@fsu.edu. I’m always happy to meet new knitters.

  154. I joined MS3 but haven’t knit any of the stole/shawl yet. Perhaps one day. Yours is lovely.
    The supremely wonderful & intelligent gal who writes the blog ‘Knit My Grits’ has no comment section. I’m presuming she’s a friend of yours, Stephanie. I so wish to tell her that she deserves to be awarded the Thinking Blogger button. She is more than a Thinker. She is a woman after my own heart. I LOVE what she writes and agree with her 100%!!

  155. Hmm. You have special company. But — it’s Friday, and the next installment is out. Whatever are you going to do???

  156. Lemme tell ya a “time management” story:
    Among the many things that happened in the aftermath of Katrina, a major animal welfare organization, who shall remain unnamed, came down to “help.”
    Now the money they provided for relief supplies was, indeed, helpful. Essential, actually. But the money came with a price — their people tromping around the emergency shelters in business clothes, complaining about the “lack of organization” and demanding better “productivity” out of relief workers, taking charge of the situation and overriding our methods, and complaining about the lack of “a sense of urgency” on the part of people who had been working 80-hour weeks, or longer, for three months straight. Wanting to have endless MBA-type meetings in the midst of a disaster.
    The moral? If you ever have a disaster — and I seincerely hope you do NOT — and someone shows up in a SUIT wanting to discuss time management?
    RUN!

  157. This is torturing me. I know you knit like the wind and are way better than I’ll ever be, but I am waiting and waiting for my beads so I can just start!!! It will be Xmas before I’m done at this rate…
    LOVE your stole. I can only hope mine turns out half as well.
    Housekeeping is highly overrated.

  158. As a curly haired girl in upstate NY I feel your pain of bad hair days in the humidity. I feel like an evangelical preaching about the good book, but I have been converted. Have you heard of the book Curly Girl by Lorraine Massey? First summer no frizz!

  159. Burlington, MA
    Has anyone told you that the Border bookstore is next to an LLBean store? Just thought you should know.

  160. Just thought you should know that the Burlington, MA Borders bookstore is right next to a LLBean store.

  161. Being a Michigan girl I am all a shiver with curiosity about the “big Michigan Knitting company”-can you tell what it is and why they are coming to see you-aside from the fact that you are nice and a knitter.
    Also, being from Michigan, I know they won’t care if your floor is vacuumed, the dishes are in the sink or if your hair is frizzy(Michigan has terrible humidity-we are all frizzy all the time) so relax and knit-that’s the reason they are coming, not to do an expose’on the state of your home. They love your knitting and they probably left unvacuumed rugs, dirty dishes and brought their frizzy hair with them.

  162. No comment about the lace (I’m trying to do it, first lace project and it’s a bear, but strangely, I like it. We’ll see if it lasts.)
    1. You need to get a search for your site up, I wanted to show some back posts to my mom and there’s NO WAY to find them unless you know what they are.
    2. Where did you get the pattern for the Koinu Cardigan. I want one of my own, and can’t find the stinkin’ pattern.
    3. It was pointed out to me today that you’re FINALLY coming to Virginia (Baily’s Crossing). YEA!!!!! See you there. Can I bring you a bottle of the local beer?

  164. Oh, I didn’t know there was another Mystery Shawl, the one I’m working on is from Goddess Knits. I am slow because she has a new KAL starting soon that is a circular shawl with a “ray” design feature, and she is using 5 different colors! Tho I like the stoles, I find it easier to wear circ and triangle styles like Renee designs. I love how she puts together stitch patterns.

  165. Time management used to work until I went back to school. Now it’s all up in the air. However, while the dishes are piling up, I always find time to knit! The shawl is very pretty – keep us posted!

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