Lace Ribbon Scarf

Yes, I finished the Lace Ribbon Scarf from Knitty. I used Ella Rae Lace Merino ( a fingering weight) in color 110. The pattern calls for you to knit until the scarf is 80"; I only made it to 74" with one skein of yarn.



I enjoyed knitting this pattern but I have one thing I'd do differently next time. The pattern has you cast-on and start right into the lace pattern then at the end you knit two rows then bind-off. Those two knit rows give you a very nice finished edge that you don't have at the other end of the scarf. Next time I'd cast-on, knit two rows before starting the lace pattern. I had a long piece of yarn left from the cast on that I used to work through the cast-on to give it a little more bulk to try and match the end of this scarf.



Thank-you Jessica for modeling the scarf.

I've had about a dozen people write and ask about my blocking surface. I've mentioned before that they're 2 feet X 2 feet interlocking foam floor mats that I got through Amazon. (My mats are black but they're offered in many bright colors too. I've been told someone found the mats at Home Depot.)

KnitPicks now is selling a similar product, 12 inch X 12 inch interlocking squares that are white. I haven't seen them and can make no recommendation - I'm just letting you know another source for these blocking mats. My only comment is that KnitPicks' product is only half the surface area of those offered on Amazon with little reduction in price.

The beginning of this month the Photographer and I drove up to Riverside, California so I could attend a Weaver's Conference marketplace. I was curious about the new looms on the market; learned a lot but didn't purchase one. I really didn't buy much; 2 pounds of natural color worsted weight merino yarn from Newton's, and a fringe twister.

Although we didn't stay at the Mission Inn we did stop there early Saturday morning before the Conference opened. I knit while the Photographer did what he does. It was a beautiful hotel that has recently been fully restored.









This is how I spent the hour, knitting and listening to Vivaldi, while he was wandering around.

I Won a Contest

How can it be two weeks since I last posted here? Where does the time go and why is it going so quickly?

Anyway, I won a guessing contest from Lisa on Knitnzu . She had ice slide off a multi-story building and land on her car. So she held a guess the estimate contest and I guessed closest. I won a $25 gift certificate from Spunky Eclectic; I ordered two custom dyed fibers and they finally arrived this Wednesday.



The top is 4 ounces of Superwash Merino Tencel in the Rocky Mountain High colorway. The bottom is 4 ounces of Superwash BFL in the Going Places colorway. Seriously beautiful colors, you should see them in person. I've wanted to order from Amy for awhile and just never got around to it; there have been several people in my Spinning Classes that have subscribed to her Fiber of the Month Club and everything they've received has been enviable. Now I get to play with it - Thanks Lisa... and I hope your car is repaired back to it's original condition.

It's so nice to handle spinning fiber with color, I'm so tired of this white corriedale I'm still spinning. I spun some three Ply and knit it doubled for thick felt for another pair of insoles.


which felted down much smaller than commercial yarns. I barely had enough to squeeze out the insoles.


Still working on that Lace Ribbon Scarf; looks like I'm on the last quarter. I'm knitting slower on it as I'm bored with it. I hope to be done by the 19th as that's when Sock Madness 3 starts. Last year I made it to round two so this year I'm aiming to make it to round three. I'm not a speedy knitter. I could probably go faster if I wasn't doing two or three other things at the same time but that's just not me. (I can read while knitting, not so much purling.)

At Two Sisters we got in some fun sock yarn. It's called Zauberball



I brought home these two balls. They're from Skacel 420m/100g of fingering weight single ply. Haven't decided if they're going to be socks or something else. I have quite a queue and list of favorites to choose from.

And I'll leave you with a few more Barn-Raising Blocks. I've used most of my sock-yarn leftovers so I'm really starting to be creative in color combining. Lots of yarn editing!