Swatches

I swatched for both MS4 and SotS3, and made a decision on the MS4 beads. First off, SotS3 swatch:

I love this swatch. It's lovely. The yarn is a bit lighter than in this picture. It's still wet here and in poor lighting. The beads are definitely visible, but a pink that's pretty much exactly one of the shades within the yarn. I love it, love it, love it! Now I just have to wait for the first clue on Friday - and then hope to have one of my four cords open to knit it on. I have one cord in a test knit, one in a BYOB, and the other two in my Blaze, which is still in need of another skein to really be finished. I'm thinking I may just buy another set of cords soon, though I know I shouldn't since it forces me to finish things instead of continuously cast on. Maybe I can squeeze Blaze onto the largest one and reclaim a fourth that way...though I will be vacationing up at a family lakehouse for the next two days. Between the car ride and lazing about on the water, I should have a decent amount of knitting time.

Next up, swatch for MS4:

Eeew. I don't like the beads. I think I may go back for the shiny black ones I vetoed, or at least no clear ones this time. It's really not bad, but since this design really should be visible, I should get better beads. Some of the stitches fell off the needle in transport from chair to desk (still not sure how that one happened...) so I'm going to go back for new beads. I couldn't get a good picture of it, but trust me, it's not much better than it seems in this one. The teal gets mostly lost and just doesn't quite mesh with the yarn. This one doesn't start until mid-September though, so I've got time to find the right beads.

My last interesting item is a test knit that I have to show a close-up of because the only nice stitch markers that I have happen to match the yarn exactly:

See? Isn't it just awesome? This is a wrap made from fingering weight yarn, and the best fingering weight yarn I have still with me is Knit Picks Essential Multi in Peacock Multi. I LOVE this yarn and will be buying more for socks and things. I think it's just awesome. The reddish parts are actually a very nice purple, though the blue is fairly true. The purple pretty much matches the stitch marker, even though it doesn't look it in these pictures.

I think I'll be bringing this one on my mini-vacation to try to clear it off the needles - it's a test knit and needs to be done by the 31st, and is done using the same needles I will be using for Friday's clue, so I may as well clear off both a cord and the required needles.