Get stole!

since i finished the Shetland Triangle, shawls and stoles have been stalwart denizens of my knitting hamper. i have one of each on the go right now--the Gothic Leaf Stole and Birch--and though they haven't seen that much action lately that's due to change any time now (probably as soon as i finish that second Spindle Sock.)

this is what the Gothic Leaf stole looks like as of today:

i'm nearly at the halfway mark and well into skein no. 3 (at this rate i may very well get another project out of that mill-sealed bag of rowanspun 4 ply!) now the question is do i do what the pattern tells me (stop after rep. 12 and cast on for the second half separately, knit it up and then graft the halves down the centre for a more balanced-looking garment) or do i just keep on the way i'm going, forget about having that whole mirror-image effect in the finish piece and work my way through the second half as before? at this point i'm leaning towards the latter; the most serious issue i can see arising in the near future is the sheer bulk of the stole as it continues to grow, and this is a non-issue at best.

and this, of course, needs little introduction:

yes, it's Birch. no, it's not very large (yet) since i am treading carefully with this one due to the sheer length of its rows. i have got to take a decent bite out of it to get them down to a more manageable size. at present i'm ready to start the first rows of rep. 2 and i should probably get around to that any time now (must finish that sock!) Birch's pattern of spines and holes make it easy to keep track of once one really gets going--my problem is that i have to get around to actually getting going. soon, soon...there will be more pictures!