The Weave

Everywhere I look I see knitting memes that all have the same effect: 

Talk about stress. 

Anyways. I've had a couple patterns that I've been sitting on for longer than I care to admit... (who am I kidding, 3 years!) and this was one of them.

The Enterlac Scarf by Allison LoCicero was a pattern that caught my eye because of the way it looked. (Oh Ravelry, how you're as bad as FB as a time waster.) While looking woven, the scarf is in fact worked back and forth in a knit. I had put off starting it because, she told herself, I needed the Noro yarn the pattern asked for. In all honestly, any multi coloured yarn would have worked but I finally did go hunting and found the yarn on Queen at Romni Wools. 

The pattern is super well written! While initially a tad daunting, once you get used to working the squares it goes by very quickly. Definitely a recommend! Just make sure you get all the same colour code of yarn... like I obviously did.... >>. Haha. 

Cheers!

-Andrea 

The Half-Assed Hobbyist

Mohair. Never Again...?

Since I started knitting there is one aspect I've never attempted. Lace. 

It's not that I have been avoiding it, it's just I've never really found a lace pattern that I had to make. The BF's Mum on the other hand, found a wonderful pattern that she wanted me to make: A lacey wrap/scarf thing. She got the pattern from the Nov '11 Everyday Living magazine (from what I can find). So I accepted the challenge, and 100g of mohair 'yarn', and got to work

I have never worked with mohair before. If I had I most likely would have been not as keen to do this project. As I found out, mohair, typically from a goat, does not felt like sheep's wool (which is why its usually mixed with wool). It remains hairlike giving it the classic fuzzed look of angora and other fibres like it. The final product definitely looks nice but getting it there is a fuzzy fuzzy journey. As in, my couch is still covered in purple mohairs and I have a white shirt that will never be quite the same. (I need a lint roller ASAP.)

Regardless of the material I used though, the pattern was super easy to follow. It even included a backwards k2tog that I had never done before. Yay learning new stitches! Also the scalloped edges and ridges were super easy to replicate too. Especially with blocking.

I had never blocked any of my knitting before. That mainly being because everything I knit is usually chunky and doesn't really need it. So this was a double new adventure.

The instructions on the pattern said to soak the finished project in lukewarm water for 15 minutes. Then towel off the excess water, stretch and pin the wrap out and then let it dry. So I filled the kitchen sink with water, got out my old fabric pins and got to work. As previously discussed, mohair be moulting as %@*&. So I had to use the drain plug as a pseudo purple hair catcher (delicious). After the first soak I refilled the sink a second time to try and swish any left over purple fuzzes off the wrap. Then it was pinning time! Pretty straight forward (pun alert!): Start at one end and then stretch and pin till you get to the other end. I also made sure that the scalloped edges were at maximum scoop by pinning them down both horizontally and vertically. Seemed to work very well!  

A good, albeit fuzzy, journey.

I hope she likes it! (Now on to the next two projects! D=)

-Andrea

The Half-Assed Hobbyist