Baltic Sea Stole - hard to find FOs

I recently started a Baltic Sea Stole. The decision to make this particular thing was the result of a very long process of reviewing different patterns, making many agonised requests for advice, and gnawing over options with various trusted opinion-holders.

After I initially settled on the Baltic Sea Stole, I set about trying to find as many examples of FOs as I could. This proved to be somewhat difficult. If one googles "baltic sea stole" one gets plenty of hits. Unfortunately, most of these seem to be relating to the pattern being available for sale at the gamut of providores or listed in knitters' own decision making processes about things to knit next (most seem not to have chosen Baltic Sea Stole for whatever reason). Other FO references were buried deep down in the archives of blogs, and only by combing through posts, one by one, did a clear picture of the several different Baltic Sea Stoles emerge.

I thought I would provide a little tiny public service by giving a run down of links to Baltic Sea Stole FOs that I've found, in the hopes that, one day if you decide to make a Baltic Sea Stole yourself, you will find some assistance and inspiration here. And - a disclaimer - this list is probably not exhaustive, and is limited by my patience for surfing clicking and googling. If you have finished a Baltic Sea Stole and are miffed because I haven't got your stunning FO listed here, please send me a kind email and I will be sure to rectify the situation. The oversight was purely an oversight.

At least two knitters have made the Baltic Sea Stole to wear at their weddings (collective ahhhhhh):

Kate Gilbert needs no introduction from me. But have you seen her wedding photos (scroll down to the bottom)?! How beautiful! Little would one have guessed at the lengthy process of elimination she went through to decide on the Baltic Sea Stole. Read all about it here in her June 2004 archive. (Also check out her maths. Impressive stats for a stole!) She hit a few stumbling blocks in July. The potential Baltic Sea Stole knitter would be wise to read September's progress, in which we see the stole finally being blocked and we note the final number of stitches (in excess of 72,000). With the calmness of hindsight, Kate gives some technical pointers in October.

Blue Garter also made a Baltic Sea Stole for her wedding day. She was very smart and set herself a goal of one pattern repeat a week, and even managed to stick to it! Despite having to frog more than 1000 stitches 10 days before The Big Day, her FO is an absolutely stunning piece of bridal couture and she was kind enough to post a photo of it here.

The sheer number of stitches involved in the Baltic Sea Stole is commented on frequently by knitters-in-progress. Susan from I'm Knitting As Fast As I Can even held a contest (May 23rd) to guess the number of stitches she'd done so far. And Tocspaw reported on the total number knitted before having to frog and change yarns. As far as I can tell, neither of these has crossed the line into FO status yet!

Sandra reported that she thought the torture was worth it in the end (and her stole is gorgeous). Mari has a lovely FO in Rowanspun 4-ply and finished hers in 6 weeks! (A wise choice unless you want your Baltic Sea Stole to take over your life, it appears.)

And if all this has put you off the Baltic Sea Stole, JennyRaye has a comprehensive list of rectangular shawls which I think she updates from time to time.

Enough from me, I've got another 32-row repeat to work on!