The lace scarf is done! It isn’t very long, but I used up all my fiber, with only a short segment remaining.
I won at yarn roulette, only a few inches of yarn left over
The total weight of the scarf is 103 grams (3.6 oz). I used two colors of pink merino roving, pre-drafted the colors together without blending, spun with a hand carved drop spindle, then made a two-ply yarn. Lace stitch was done with size 8 Prym needles (which may have just changed my feelings about knitting and especially lace knitting). I blocked and dried the scarf.
Finished merino wool lace scarf
Interestingly, the pictures of the scarf are much more striped than it appears in person.
So would this be Roomba shaming? I couldn’t find my circular knitting needle then had the awful realization that if it fell to the floor it was probably wrapped up in robot parts. It was. The needles shattered, at least I couldn’t find evidence of them anywhere, so I assume that they were broken into tiny fragments and hoovered up. The Roomba seems to be fine, but the needle set is beyond redemption. It’s not like the robot deliberately sought out and ate my stuff, but sometimes I wonder.
Due to continuing distancing restrictions and safe handling precautions, I will not be festooning y’all’s doorsteps with tiny bouquets of May flowers. However, digital delivery to your inbox or browsers is safe and effective, no allergy medicines necessary. May you enjoy your Day.
Pink Evening Primrose in the morningDesert-chicory bloomWinecup mallow bloom
For someone who does not count knitting in my favorite crafts, I certainly seem to be knitting often. I finished spinning the two-color pink merino wool and am quite pleased with the color distribution. It isn’t nearly as patchy as I thought it would be when I was spinning the singles! I then needed to decide what to do with the two ply yarn. Since I want to get back to spinning, I chose knitting because it is faster than nålbinding and I like the texture better than crochet. It is all well and good to only spin, but how can I improve my spinning if I don’t know how the finished yarn performs?
Hand-spun merino wool
I found a simple knit lace pattern, since I read two ply is often used for lace. I also learned about a different kind of needle from Prym. These are ergonomically designed with tips that hook the yarn better, triangle shafts so the loops slide better, and they clip together to keep the stitches on the needle between sessions! I do appreciate well designed things!
Prym knitting needles (size 8) shown clipped together
This pattern is my kind of lace! It repeats every four rows, and there is only one row with increases and decreases, otherwise it is knit or purled all the way across. I had the pattern memorized after three sets, and could recognize where I was in the pattern after three more. And such a lovely dynamic result! I realized that I have seen this ripple pattern somewhere else. My daughter’s dolls were tucked in with a rainbow blanket that my grandmother made that used the same stitch! I’ve always admired the ripple and wondered how it was done. Now I know!
Baby blanket knitted by my grandmother
My knitting still can’t be considered speedy, but it will do for a sitting project. I have two other skeins queued up for the next knitting project, and have started a new walking spinning project. We’ll see if I can finish the knit projects before I have more finished yarn!
