Knit Along: Hand Spun Bouquet Scarf from Loopy Mango - Done!

Charming, happy, fast...

Honestly, the speed of this project is its attraction.  I ripped the whole thing out halfway through and still didn’t have time to get bored!  And it’s garter stitch.  Sure, its a happy, chunky, enormous garter stitch, but there’s something engaging about this yarn.  Maybe it’s the springtime-y colors I chose contrasting with fall’s warm hues all around me, but this was so very enjoyable.  

I wore it today and got stopped at least a dozen times--it’s an eye-catching accessory to be sure.  Suddenly I’m craving a hat to match.

I do have one misgiving:  I can’t help thinking I should have worked all the rosettes onto one side.  I wrangled them so that they alternated sides, because I’m not especially fond of scarves with “wrong” sides, but this also means I have lumpy rosettes poking me in the neck (well, they’re soft so I suppose they’re just prodding me, but it’s irritating just the same).  I think if I had it to do over--no, I am NOT frogging this a second time--I’d push all the rosettes to one side.  The yarn is loose enough that I could probably just nudge them over to one side even now.  It'd make for more color per square inch and something smoother against my neck.  Then again, turtleneck season is upon us so it soon won’t matter.

All in all, a truly satisfying project with perfectly stunning results.  Thanks, Loopy Mango!

Knit Along: Hand Spun Bouquet Scarf from Loopy Mango - Day 3

Peer pressure

So here I am, happily knitting along on my zippy little scarf, when my friend Camy shoots me a link to the same project on her Ravelry page.  She was with me when I visited Loopy Mango, and I knew she bought the same yarn in black with pink rosettes.  “Cute,” I think as I look at the photos of her scarf in progress.

  

I keep reading.  Camy starts talking about how she did her scarf.  How she decided she wanted longer and narrower, so she used bigger needles and cast on six stitches instead of eight.  Suddenly, my scarf looks fat and clunky.  Then she goes on about how she decided a serge edge--slipping the first stitch of each row--to give it a smoother line.  Now I look at the bumps on the edge of my scarf and convince myself they’d be itchy against my neck.  Did I see any of this before?  Of course not.  Would I have were it not for Camy?  I think we all know the answer to that.

When you can whip up the entire project in a single evening, it’s alarmingly easy to talk yourself into ripping the whole thing out and starting again.  “It won’t take long,” I coo to myself as I once again wind this into a fiber rosette volleyball.  “The thinner, longer scarf will give me more to play with,” I console my now empty needles (still size 35’s--I couldn’t totally copy Camy and switch to 50’s ‘cuz that’d be cheating).

You know what they say:  steal one idea, and it’s plagiarism.  Steal a couple of ideas, and it’s “research.”  Either way, I'm back to square one.  Or is that stitch one?

Knit Along: Hand Spun Bouquet Scarf from Loopy Mango - Day 2

Legal cheating?

Long-time DestiKNITions readers will know I’m especially fond of projects where the yarn does all the work for you.  These are pieces with simple stitches or patterns, allowing the drama of the fiber to take center stage.  Sure, I’m all for showing off with high-skill projects (remember my FiberWild socks?), but there’s something wonderful about letting a yarn like this take over.  Like I said before, it feels like legal cheating.  Pulling the wool over your eyes--literally.

Would you tote a fiber volleyball?

Now, there are downsides to this lovely scarf.  When you wind the yarn up in ball, you end up with something the size of a volleyball.  It’s comical--I’d feel ridiculous pulling this out of a knitting bag in public.  As such, it’s a bit unwieldy.  And while I love fast progress as much as the next knitter, enormous needles like this have never really been my thing.  More sledgehammer than craft tool.  Still, you can’t argue with the one-foot-in-fifteen minutes progress of this thing.

Need an awesome gift idea?

There is one instance where I’d definitely take this out in public. As I said before, I think this would make the cleverest of birthday or housewarming gifts.  Arrive with a hank of pure art in your hands, stay for dinner or coffee or anything that takes a pair of hours, and leave your host with a charming hand-knit scarf.  Really, I think if you did it once your phone would suddenly be ringing off the hook with invitations.  

Anyone out there want to test my theory?

Knit Along: Hand Spun Bouquet Scarf from Loopy Mango - Day 1

"What can you recommend?"

One of the great pleasures of this blog is that I don’t pick my own projects.  You may think that’s odd, but I think of it like walking into a restaurant and ordering the special, sight unseen--you come away with the most amazing experiences you’d probably never have picked for yourself.

When is it okay to cheat?

This scarf is the kind of high-drama accessory I love, but I don’t know that I’d have chosen it from all the other lovely offerings at Loopy Mango.  Something as quick as Handspun Bouquet almost seems like cheating.  You should see me as I started to knit this--I laughed as if I’d just found the secret shortcut.  Like the lady who dumps canned stew into her own crockery and takes it to the church potluck--and gets away with it.

Not that this is cutting corners--no ma’am, this is one stunning bit of fiber.  So cool and artsy that I shall be intolerable when I wear it for the first time.  (Some might quip that I’m verging on intolerable now...yes, I hear you).  I’ve spent time just oogling the yarn as I wound it into the massive (and in, my eyes, un-portable) ball, taking notice of each individual rosette.  Each of those lovely flowers is more charming by the sheer fact that I didn’t have to make it.  

Want to know the ugly truth?

I couldn’t make something even as simple as one of these rosettes.  The ugly truth is that while I can knit up a storm, I am craft impaired.  I may have written two parenting books, but I’ve botched more MOPS crafts than you can shake a glue-gun at.

This, however, I feel confident I can handle.  The hardest part about this project?  Keeping my 19-year-old daughter from stealing it when it’s done.

Knit Along: Angora Lace Scarf from Lion Brand Studio - DONE

It's complete!  

And it's killing me that it is too warm in Chicago right now to wear this lovely scarf, even lacy as it is.  Every knitter loves fall for just that reason--it's time to break out all the lush, fluffy stuff.


I'm very pleased.  It's shorter than many of my other scarves, but I think it suits the airy nature of the piece.  It's a smart little thing, an accent rather than a drape.  Just itching for a lovely pin or a clever knot, don't you think?  

Well done, Lion Brand.  You've designed in impressive scarf that even a novice could attempt with confidence.  And you already know how I feel about the yummy yarn.  My photos just don't do the color justice.

I'm going to treat you to another goodie today, DestiKNITters.  

If you've not encountered the lovely little accessory called a yarn bowl, allow me to introduce you.  Pottery lovers, here's a chance to combine your passions.  This piece was given to me by my brother, one of Virginia artisan Brian Lacy's works.  I love that his business card says "functional, handmade pottery to enhance the culture of living."  Thanks, Brian I really do feel enhanced.  I feel artistic.  

I feel like my yarn won't roll off the table next time.  See that clever little slit?  You drop your ball of yarn in the bowl (this one's a nice size to accommodate any number of yarn weights), feed the yarn through the slot, and knit away.  Unlike some of the other yarn holders which feed the yarn through a closed hole, you can insert and remove the yarn from this holder at will.  That's good, because you really don't want to tote pottery around.  Still, while you're stitching in the comfort of your own home, this is an artful addition to your yarn gadget collection.

Speaking of artful, wait until you see the fabulously artistic nature of our next project from Loopy Mango.  See you soon!

Knit Along: Angora Lace Scarf from Lion Brand Studio - Day 5

What comes after the bind off?

Some patterns you can slip the project right on and go.  Heaven knows I’ve done my share of finishing a piece hours (okay, sometimes even minutes) before I planned to wear it.  Not so with lacework.  It’s okay when it’s done, but it’s never really a work of art until you’ve blocked it.

Can’t you just press it with an iron?

Almost never.  Blocking requires soaking--or as the famous opinionated knitter Elizabeth Zimmermann calls it “giving it a bath.”  I love the tender touch that term implies.  And it’s the perfect visual for the task.  I let my babies soak for about ten minutes (as long as it takes me to set up the blocking board I use on my dining room table) in Dawn Blue dishwashing liquid and tepid water.  After a careful rinse in similar temperature water, I pin them to the board.  A striped beach towel is especially useful for pieces involving straight lines like this scarf, because you’ve got your guidelines ready to go.

What does blocking accomplish?

In even simple lacework like this scarf, blocking opens up the stitches, helps things lay flat, and gives the work an even feel.  I think blocking makes any knitted piece feel “airier,” if I can manufacture a word.  Scientifically, it allows the fibers to relax and line up nicely next to each other.  After all, everyone--from small children to dogs to romance author knitters--behaves more nicely after a bath.

Give it a day or so to dry, and I’ll come back to show you the final product.

Knit Along: Angora Lace Scarf from Lion Brand Studio - Day 4

What is it about periwinkle?

There’s something about this color.  I can’t quite put my finger on it, but I find it entrancing.  This is a lovely pattern--elegant in its simplicity--but it’s the color that catches my heart.  I just don’t think this scarf would be the same in a more ordinary color.  It’s like I’m knitting sky, I suppose.  Or a perfect pre-dust summer evening.  I’d drool if a man with eyes this color stared at me.  I just keep staring at it.  Do you have a color that does that to you?

Um...a little help here?

I’ve made more than my share of goof-ups on this simple pattern.  Most of them stem from letting my mind wander (not a new problem for yours truly, believe me) and loosing my place in the pattern.  The good news is that I’ve managed to save myself each time.  The scarf is divided into perfect vertical quarters, so you’re only a dozen stitches or so into a row before you realize something isn’t lining up the way it ought to. I like that in a pattern.  It’s okay to be complicated, just build in a few ways to save myself from myself.

Knit Along: Angora Lace Scarf from Lion Brand Studio - Day 3

Ever been hit with a virus?

Sometimes, low tech is the best antidote for high tech.  That truth asserted itself over the weekend when viruses struck DestiKNITions headquarters.  Humans and computers alike in our house have spent the week under the weather.   This means “I.T. Mom” spent a lot of time: 

1) on the couch watching Castle episodes accompanied by Dayquil and tissues and 

2) on hold with tech support while her computer network card twitched and died.

My favorite companion during most of those long hours?  My knitting.  With the sorry exception of one afternoon where I felt just too plain sick to knit.  Man, you know I’m sick if I’m too sick to knit.

Hi-tech or low-point?

Technology can be wonderful, but it can’t seem to comfort us like the creative process can.  Sure, I love that my on-demand cable let me catch up on hours of Castle episodes thereby hooking me into a series I’ve managed to avoid until now.  And heaven knows I’m never more than three feet from my Blackberry.  In this set of battles, the humans fared a lot better than their cyber counterparts, and it became clear that while I would recover, the family computer would not.  Has not.  Might not ever.  And as I babysat the multi-hour anti-cybervirus attempts, I loved having my knitting to bring me much needed calm.  

Wouldn’t any distraction have worked?

I don’t think so.  TV would have just been additional noise and distraction, music might have worked but I’d still be stuck staring at a dull screen.  Chocolate?  Let's not even go there.  My knitting occupied my brain, my eyes, and my fingers.  It gave me a feeling of both occupation and progress.  

I spent three hours trying to restore the computer with valiant tech support folks on the phone but could not achieve my goal.  I did, however, achieve progress on my scarf.

It doesn’t completely balance out, but it comes close enough to get me through the day.  I’ll live to reboot another day.  Really, what more can you ask of a craft?