I was looking through my yarn stash for a bit of something and came across a UFO (or UnFinished Project as crafters like to call them). I was truly shocked, as I don’t have many UFOs (although I have many that I call done that never get used, so there you go). Turns out I blogged about them. Two years ago. Hm. I left them with only the ends to be woven in, a process that took about a half-hour to complete. I think I know why I abandoned the project, the heels are very strange and twisted. Laying there, the socks look uncomfortable.

I wove in the ends anyway and tried them on. The wonky heels didn’t make any difference in the fit. Huh. Well cool, now I have a pair of wool socks.

Hm. These socks are really comfy. I may have to attempt another pair. In a different pattern.

The Frabjous Fibers hand-dyed Blue Faced Leichester (BFL) and silk yarn I spun up in June has finally been applied to a project! I decided to do a random knit lace scarf, but with pointed ends rather than square.

The random knit used a combination of increases (yarn over) and decreases (knit or purl two together) spaced with one to five knits or purls (depending on which side was toward me). The goal is to keep the same number of increases as decreases across the row. To do the shaping I added a stitch on each side of the knit rows only, then to narrow the end, I decreased on each side of the purl rows only. To keep the edges neat, I slipped the first stitch of each row.

I tried writing this all up in a standard knit pattern, but it then looks so much more complicated than it actually is. I will say that when knitting the technique using a block able yarn (such as wool or cotton) is key. It doesn’t look like much until I get it wet and pin it out flat on my netting and PVC drying rack.

I saw instructions for random lace awhile ago. Loved it, wanted to try it, picked up needles and yarn to start it, then remembered how much I hated decrease stitches. Getting the needles in is tight, it is fiddly, it takes longer than a simple knit stitch, and I often drop the stitch instead of decreasing. I abandoned the project, going so far as to throw the printed version into the recycle bin.

Then I found the Prym needles (this totally sounds like an advertisement, but I am not getting kick back, I genuinely appreciate this product). The little nub on the end of the needle gives me just enough advantage to tackle the decreases with less frustration. It probably also helps that I am using a fingering weight merino wool yarn (small diameter) with larger than recommended needles (US size 8), so the stitches are not super tight and difficult to manipulate. Plus, since it is a random pattern, if it is too hard to make a decrease, I don’t! Rather than struggle and swear, I knit the stitch (or purl if I’m on the back side) and put the decrease in where it is easier.

Now here is the magic part. When knitting random lace, the fabric is interesting, but more like crumpled paper. When it is blocked, it completely changes to a light airy organic lace!

I blocked my sample by getting it wet, squeezing out most of the water (never wringing), and pinning it to nylon netting stretched over a PVC frame. Oh how it opened up! And when it was dry, it maintained it’s shape.

Structured lace patterns are lovely, but I always miss a stitch in the instructions (usually by getting distracted, imagine that). I can see that imperfection like a lightning bolt at night, but only after it is too far to go back (I know some will, but if I have to rip out half a project I will never pick it up again). I am pleasantly surprised that when gazing at this type of lace I see the surprise structure; the swoop here, the cluster of bubbles there; rather than seeing imperfections, I see order in the chaos.

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.