A Return to Lace

It's been quite a while!  So much has been going on,  I won't bother to bore you with the details.  I will say this though, I have been trying to work on knitting through some of my yarn stash instead of randomly buying more yarn. In doing so, I'm also "buying back" all of my yarn as an added way to save some money.  However much money I spent on a skein of yarn, when I go to knit with it, that amount will be transferred over to my savings account.  I'm doing this to force myself to knit from stash with the added incentive for saving money.

 I've got several projects in the works right at the moment. Chiefest of which is my Leaf Lace Scarf  By: Cayli Malone,  It's a wonderful pattern that is easily memorized after the first three or four repeats.

I will say that my biggest issue with it is that lines 1-5, and 13-17, are all pretty much the same, If you are not careful, you could end up knitting line 9 while you should be working on line 5.  The pattern just lines up that perfectly that if you aren't paying attention, you may find yourself tinking back 3 or 4 rows worth of lace.

The pattern only calls for 69 stitches to be cast on, but I wanted more of a shawl.  This is the biggest reason I chose this pattern!  The center repeat is only 10 stitches wide, so I was able to cast on 109 stitches instead of the 69 stitches that was written.  It works our beautifully!

The yarn that I'm working with is a very decadent lace weight yarn from The Verdant Gryphon called Mithril, named after the silver coat that Bilbo Baggins wore in LoTR. This yarn is beautiful!  It has eight cobweb plies of Merino thread which makes rather strong, but still wonderfully soft to work with!

I have rather enjoyed working with this colorway as well.  It reminds me of the soft and subtle colors of the American Southwest.  It's variances are muted enough so that you don't lose the lace pattern in it.  That's one of the biggest issues I have with so many dyers is that so often they do these wildly contrasting colors, and most patterns get lost in it.

This has been my go to project since Christmas day and I honestly can't wait to block it because when I do, it's going to be pretty.  Since I've started knitting lace, I have always enjoyed it, and returning once again to lace can be an almost zen experience at times, frustrating at others; but I will say, it has definitely been worth returning to lace.

Mithril! All folk desired it. It could be beaten like copper, and polished like glass; and the Dwarves could make of it a metal, light and yet harder than tempered steel. Its beauty was like to that of common silver, but the beauty of mithril did not tarnish or grow dim."

―Gandalf