I dare you...

I dare you to cast on for Hanami, and not be in love.



Yep, beaded cast on, you are my new best friend.

This is the beginning of the Hanami stole, which has been in my queue forever in The Plucky Knitter Silk Merino Handpainted Laceweight. Um, yeah. This yarn is to die for.

The beads are rectangular, and I think they are just SO pretty. And I'm loving having an excuse to use my fabulous stitchmarkers from Lisa. I normally avoid using them, but it was necessary for this pattern - and I'm so happy to get another chance to use them. (Even if they are red and orange, and my knitting is pink!)

I'm knitting it as part of a Snobby Beaded KAL I started on the Ravelry Yarn Snobs board. And I am now compulsively adding beaded shawls to my queue.

I don't have quite enough yarn for the pattern requirements (880 yards required, and I have 700), so I'm cutting out one horizontal repeat. We'll see if I need to cut out vertical repeats on the way...