After finishing the socks I was going to knit another pair (I have yarn for at least 5 more pairs in my stash), this time using a different pattern, but I decided that I needed to get to work on some of the Christmas presents that I am making for my 'other family' in Canada. I have decided that the ladies might each like a hand-knitted lace scarf and as these take a bit longer than a pair of socks to knit I knew that I ought to get started. I have yarn for four scarves already put by so all I needed to do was find some patterns. I had a number of patterns in mind but it was very difficult to choose which one to make; however the decision was made and I started knitting but, as is always the way when I am using very fine yarn, each time I got started I ended up dropping stitches and because the scarf was only a few rows in length, the stitch would drop all the way down and I would have to unpick the work and start again. I began to think that this was going to be as difficult as the Shetland lace shawl that I made at the beginning of the year, but I decided to try a different pattern and this time I had a little more success.
I have two hanks of each of the two colourways in the above photograph, which will be enough for four nice long lacy scarves. The yarn is a very fine and soft alpaca so I have had to stop wearing dark coloured tops while I am knitting with it because it looks as though I have been sitting with a cat on my chest after an evening's work. But having found a suitable pattern, the first scarf is growing quite nicely now and measures approximately 10 inches at the moment and at a guess the finished scarf will be something over 60 inches in length.
It is very difficult to determine the lace pattern at the moment because the knitting is so springy, but once the scarf is finished and has been blocked (this means soaking it in cool water so that all the fibres are wet and then squeezing out as much water as possible before stretching the scarf to its finished dimensions and then leaving it to dry) the pattern should be somewhat clearer. It is supposed to look like a series of tumbling leaves and hopefully blocking the scarf will make the pattern show up, but even if it isn't as clear as it might be in a slightly thicker
laceweight yarn, it will be very warm and soft around the neck. Something that will be nice to have for the cold Canadian winters.
I have two hanks of each of the two colourways in the above photograph, which will be enough for four nice long lacy scarves. The yarn is a very fine and soft alpaca so I have had to stop wearing dark coloured tops while I am knitting with it because it looks as though I have been sitting with a cat on my chest after an evening's work. But having found a suitable pattern, the first scarf is growing quite nicely now and measures approximately 10 inches at the moment and at a guess the finished scarf will be something over 60 inches in length.
It is very difficult to determine the lace pattern at the moment because the knitting is so springy, but once the scarf is finished and has been blocked (this means soaking it in cool water so that all the fibres are wet and then squeezing out as much water as possible before stretching the scarf to its finished dimensions and then leaving it to dry) the pattern should be somewhat clearer. It is supposed to look like a series of tumbling leaves and hopefully blocking the scarf will make the pattern show up, but even if it isn't as clear as it might be in a slightly thicker laceweight yarn, it will be very warm and soft around the neck. Something that will be nice to have for the cold Canadian winters.
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