As mentioned, Friday I finished and blocked the little Sweet River. It took a little extra knitting and a some frogging, since I didn't have quite enough yarn to do as many repeats as I wanted.
There wasn't any way that much yarn would knit up another eight rows. So, I had to frog back. (Doesn't the reverse look cool?) Here's my preferred way for doing that with lace:
Lifeline on the fly. US3 circular needle with the right legs of a purl/ws row picked up. (Or any needle smaller than what you're using.) I picked them up from left to right, even though the pic looks like I did it right to left. Working from the inside of a stitch is easier to me for some reason, but taking a photo of the right side of the scarf looked backward. (Idiosyncratic, I know.)
So, I worked the final four plain rows and border and cast of with EZ's Sewn cast-off (sewing a duplicate of the long-tail cast-on edge over the live stitches), and tacked my first blocking session.
Pre-blocking:
Blocking:
(You didn't think I'd spoil the final reveal with a full photo, did you? ;o)
While pinned out, it measured 28" x 8.5". After waiting what seemed like a reeeeeeeeeallllllly long time, (just 24 hours, really), the moment of truth had arrived. After unpinning, it relaxed to 26" x 8.5". I really stretched it along the length, wanting to get all the length out of the stitches I could. I didn't think the alpaca would really spring back much, since it hasn't kept its shape very well in other things I've knit. (Hint: if you're knitting a hat for a youngster, get an alpaca/wool blend. You really need wool's crimp and spring to keep the hat in shape.)
So, without further ado, here's Sweet River's first run:
Pretty drape, and it compliments the new green of the burning bush nicely.
The back is pretty in it's own right, I think. Like a modernist interpretation of cables. (Like other modernist interpretations, it eliminates the curves and keeps only the most basic of the forms. I think it's fun.)
And a neck shot. Just barely long enough to go under a coat collar. For practical use, I'd probably shift it so it's centered at the back of my neck and the corners meet in front. But hindsight is 20/20. (I think it's more like 200/20, but that's just me.)
Conclusion? With the chart written as it is, it really needs two skeins of Decadence (or something similar) to make a very useful scarf. I'm thinking I'll frog it and try again with 1 1/2 repeats wide and see how long I can get it. Or maybe I'll let one of you do that. ;o) Additional charts and revisions to the pattern notes to come soon. Maybe some progress shots of some of the wip's, as well.
You can download the pattern (as it is so far) here: Sweet River PDF
Have a great Monday!
