Tears for Tiers

It seems I have lost my way on my Forest Path Stole and I need a little help.

The Forest Path Stole is knit in tiers or rows of small rectangles. The completed stole has twenty three tiers but depending on how long you want the stole you have the option of knitting nineteen tiers of twenty one or any number over twenty three ending on an odd row. The last row is a row of triangles to square off the end and then the seed stitch border is knit up both sides and then the top border is added last.
As I was knitting the stole I was beginning to have my doubts that I would have enough yarn to complete twenty three tiers. I didn't want to stop at nineteen so I opted for twenty one tiers.
I completed the top triangles and went back and took out one rectangle and reknit it because for some inexplicable reason a strand broke in one of the lily of the valley rectangles a little more than the half way mark of the middle of the stole.
Fortunately, I have some experience in fixing holes in knitting and fortunately this is an entrelac lace so the problem could easily be contained.
So after knitting the top triangles and then mending the hole, (see you can't even tell)
I started to knit the seed stitch border up the right side and as was I knitting I began to have serious doubts as to having enough to finish the borders.

As usual when this sort of thing happens it takes all the wind out of my sails and I lose all momentum to finishing this stole.
And once again, I was lost in the woods. Forest Path was/has gone on hiatus for the summer or longer until I can decide where I should go from here.
So, here is where I am going to ask for your help in deciding what to do because I can't seem to make up my mind. Here are the options that I have come up with so far.
Option A. Rip back the top row of triangles and two tiers of rectangles to nineteen tiers and then finish the stole in the seed stitch border and make it a shorter stole.

Option B. Finish the stole in the seed stitch border using the same yarn except in a cream color that I have in my stash. If I chose this option, I could possibly have enough yarn from the borders to add the last two tiers and make the stole longer.


Option C: Knit the border using the cream colored yarn but take the stole up a notch by knitting a lace border instead of the seed stitch border.



I've weighed each option and still can't come to a decision.
Option A, would mean that the stole is shorter but it would all be one color. However, it would mean ripping back two tiers of knitting and considering all the time it took to get to that many tiers, I have been unenthusiastic about going backward on this project.
Option B, would mean that the stole could be longer, it doesn't have to be, but it would be two toned. I'm not sure that I am sold on the cream color border but I don't hate it.
Option C, would make this stole a much fancier stole and probably take longer to finish, however it's taken this long already, what's a little longer if it makes a better stole? Then there is the question as to what lace border pattern to use. The lace pattern I used as a sample is a leaf lace border I borrowed from a stole in," Victorian Lace Today".

Before you cast your vote let me give you a little more background information on whom I intend to give this stole to and why.



I've decided to give this stole to my daughter's violin teacher Caren as wedding present.
Caren has been very generous to my daughter Anne and has mentored her in her violin playing and was largely responsible for pushing Anne to pursue attending college and making it happen no matter what.
Caren continued to teach Anne even when it was beyond our means to pay her. She even agreed to an exchange of services, she would continue to give Ani violin lessons and I would knit her any sweater of her choosing.
Last year Caren and Paul made their partnership of love, respect and affection official last year when they were married. I decided that this stole would be a perfect wedding gift for Caren should I ever finish it.
Before you decide on the color issue let me show you the sweater she chose and that I knit for her.



"You know, you worry too much, wool is wool. It's quite comfortable as it is."



Yeah well, it sure would be a whole lot easier to see the forest if there weren't all these trees in standing in the way.

5 Opinions:

Anonymous said...

I like it all one color best.

Criosa said...

did you try Option D - see if some knitter out there has some of the same color/dye lot of the main yarn? or is it a rarity (handspun, etc) and that'd be impossible?

I think I like it better solid, but if you had to go with the contrast, I like the lace edge better.

Anonymous said...

I think it's much prettier all in one color. So either make a smaller stole, or add in the extra yarn in cream and then overdye the whole thing when it's finished.

Shelly Kang said...

I really think it needs to be all one color. I do think that if you could find the same yarn in the same color but different dye lot, it would be okay to use a different dye lot just for the border. You've done such beautiful work so far, and I like the idea of the lace border if you can find enough of the gray to do it in lace - or maybe the lace doesn't really take that much more yarn since it's less dense? I can't remember if you're on Ravelry yet - if not, I'd be happy to search there to see if anyone has it in their stash.

I would SO love to do this shawl one day.

Anonymous said...

I agree with Criosa, I think you need option D. Get more yarn. It's Baruffa Cashwool...right? Even if you can't get the same dye lot, I think doing all the borders in the same colour (even if it is a different dye lot) would be the best solution.

It's so pretty it deserves it.