{"id":112,"date":"2007-06-05T09:00:40","date_gmt":"2007-06-05T14:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.abbysyarns.com\/wordpress\/?p=112"},"modified":"2007-06-05T09:00:40","modified_gmt":"2007-06-05T14:00:40","slug":"fern-lace-scarf-in-merinotencel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abbysyarns.com\/webshop\/2007\/06\/05\/fern-lace-scarf-in-merinotencel\/","title":{"rendered":"Fern Lace Scarf in Merino\/Tencel"},"content":{"rendered":"

Some of you may recall these 50\/50 merino\/tencel dye testers…<\/p>\n

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There were several, but these were the pair that I culled to spin for myself and test which of several methods of dyeing I planned to use with merino\/tencel moving forward. The one at rear, with the greens, remains unspun as yet, but I did spin up the rainbow-coloured one in the front, finding the dye penetration in it to be disappointing as I had feared. Spun and chain plied, here’s how that one turned out:<\/p>\n

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It’s not that it’s bad exactly, it’s just that it wasn’t nearly as vibrant and garishly bright as what I’d been trying to achieve. Because the dye technique I used on that particular 2-ounce top didn’t penetrate the top fully in some places, there was too much undyed, white fiber, and that toned things down and made for it to be more pastel. <\/p>\n

Now, to be honest, sometimes I manipulate things specifically to achieve that result for several reasons (usually as an intermediate stage in a multi-part dye process). This time though, what I really needed to do was get a feel for the rate at which dye moved through this fiber, how it acted, and so forth. And now I know, and future dye efforts on the merino\/tencel top are going to be much more predictable. <\/p>\n

But so there I was with, I think, 300-some-odd yards of this spun up for test purposes. What to do, what to do… hat? scarf? Something like that. I opted for “scarf,” despite an abject lack of need for anything scarfy. Here comes the whole story — but first, a pop quiz!<\/p>\n

So, let’s just say you have something laid out carefully on the bed to take pictures, and it looks like this:<\/p>\n

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Now, leave the room and walk 12 steps down the hall to get your camera. Upon your return, your careful layout has become…<\/p>\n

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Hrmmmm. What, then, could have caused this?<\/p>\n

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Space monkeys. Surely it was space monkeys. <\/p>\n

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This was a big needle project (well, for me) — I knit it on a pair of US 6 \/ 4mm Bryspun flexible needles, and it was a schlep-around-in-the-car project last week, plus I worked on it a bit in the evenings. <\/p>\n

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The pattern is the Fern Leaf Lace in Sharon Miller’s Heirloom Knitting<\/i>. It is similar to, but slightly different from, the version of it on the Boston Museum sampler studied by Susanna Lewis in Knitting Lace<\/i>. <\/p>\n

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After having worked it a few times in a few different ways, I think I’m finally close to settling on a way I like to do it, and the next thing I put this pattern into, I might be genuinely pleased with.<\/p>\n

Because of the bias created by the side-leaning double decreases, this pattern does create a… puckered, ripply look in the fabric. That was a challenge I didn’t overcome to my satisfaction in this quickie freehand sweater a couple years back:<\/p>\n

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(That’s the Susanna Lewis variant from the Boston Museum sampler)<\/p>\n

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I think my next iteration will use 5 holes per fern instead of 4, knit 3 together at the right edge, knit 3 together through back loop at the left edge, and be bounded with either reverse stockinette or a very loose, stretchy, open lace. I might also change the spacing of the leaves, and see what I can come up with the overemphasize the column of stitches which becomes the stalk at center of each leaf. <\/p>\n

Chinchero weaver that I am, I can’t help but classify this pattern as raki-raki<\/i>, which is a fern when you’re talking about the plant, but part of what makes something raki-raki is how it’s broken up off-kilter from a centerline while still maintaining symmetry. Ferns exhibit raki-raki tendencies, and that’s why they’re called that. <\/p>\n

Well, that’s that for a finished object update today. What am I on to for the rest of the day? Here’s the list:<\/p>\n