Madeira Cascading

I not only finished the Madeira Cascade Lace scarf (pattern here: http://www.straw.com/cpy/cpy9612.html ), I got it washed and blocked (you'll note that my sense of straight is deeply impaired). The scarf came out beautifully! It's not mindless lace, but I think that's because there is no such thing for me. I got mixed up here and there, and there are errors, but overall, it looks good. This is one of those *begin at the ends, graft in the middle* designs, and since I have no further use for any of this leftover yarn, I decided to knit as much of it up as I could. Therefore, it's not exactly grafted in the center. There are 10 repeats on one side and 11 on the other- but no one will notice or care, and more importantly, I only have 3 yds of yarn left.

This scarf started life as roving from Twisted Fiber Arts (okay, it started on the hoof, and whatever Tencel is before it becomes fiber, but we don't need to go back quite that far)- Sleek blend (Merino and Tencel- less fun to spin than other blends- gorgeous yarn but I'd rather spin roving with more grab and less fiber up the nose), Sherwood Colorway (greens with hints of rose and blue). The 4 ozs were spun into 335 yds of 3-ply yarn with a fantastic sheen and no bounce at all. It was destined to be lace. The unblocked scarf was 56"x 8", and after blocking, it clocked in at 69" x 9". I used Size 5 needles and 45 sts (most of the time... heh).

My current lace project (yeah, it's still your fault, Karen) is a much faster, easier knit- an original (though pretty basic) adaptation of the Staggered Fern motif from the 365 Knitting Stitches a Year Calendar (Nov 28 to be specific). I'm using Malabrigo worsted (the softest yarn in the universe), size 10 needles, 24 sts, and I have enough of this yarn to knit a nice long scarf and a matching hat (which needs to be designed). Depending on how quickly I get them done, maybe they'll show up as a Freebie pattern soon.

I think that the Staggered Fern motif looks more like wheat stalks, and I've been considering designing a wheat lace shawl, so that design is going into the *save for later consideration* file on my mental hard drive. But since I didn't knit sleeves yesterday, that's what I'm doing today- not designing shawls. Nope. nosiree.