Thursday, December 04, 2008

Before & After

Before Blocking: A lace scarf that looks anything but lacy. A curling jumble of stitches that masks the potential hidden within. Doubts and hope all mixed together.


After Blocking: Light, airy, beautiful lace! Chaos put in order. Doubts erased. Hope fulfilled.


Pattern: Road Not Taken
Source: A Fine Fleece by Lisa Lloyd
Yarn: Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud (held double)
Color: Horizon
Needles: US 6 (4mm)

I have nothing but praise for this pattern and the book, A Fine Fleece, Knitting with Handspun Yarns. The book contains a wonderful collection of patterns: many sweaters and vests, scarves (one with a matching hat) and several pairs of socks. Each pattern is shown knitted in handspun and commercial yarn, so you really don't need to spin your own yarn to enjoy this book.

Road Not Taken features a pretty zig-zag lace stitch that is easy enough for beginning lace knitters. The stitches are charted, which I like. The pattern is written to be knitted as a 10-row repeat or a 20-row repeat--it's your choice. I went with 20 rows.

This is a scarf that I will knit again.

32 comments:

  1. Absolutely beautiful. I would love to knit this.

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  2. That scarf moved up my list as yours is so beautiful! I love the magic of lace.

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  3. Amazing! Thanks for showing the before pic! It is always fun to see the transformation occur!

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  4. I love lace, too. So much fun to knit and a joy to see when blocked.

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  5. Anonymous9:54 AM

    That is my favorite part of a lace project. It's like a butterfly coming out of a cocoon. Beautiful!

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  6. Wow! What a difference blocking can make! It's lovely!

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  7. you've been busy! It's beautiful!

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  8. Cloud is a perfect name for this yarn. The scarf looks like it was knit from clouds. Lovely knit.

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  9. The transformation never ceases to amaze. Lovely scarf.

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  10. Beautiful scarf, you are really going to enjoy wearing it.

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  11. The scarf is such a pretty color, it will be gorgeous on. I like the way you showed before blocking and after blocking - what a difference!
    I will definately put this book on my check it out list.

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  12. Oh, my word! What a difference it makes with the blocking. Such a beautiful creation, Tracy! BTW, I also like the rustic board and medallion next to the scarf. Very pretty!

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  13. Just gorgeous! The transformation in blocking is amazing!

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  14. It's so beautiful. I've never blocked a garment and have quite a bit of anxiety associated with possibly ruining a project when the time comes. (Silly, I know!)

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  15. That's truly lovely. I have a total weakness for lace scarves. I especially love Alpaca lace yarns. They are so light, airy and really soft. Nice job!

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  16. Beautiful! I'm so glad you included the before pic...what a transformation!

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  17. I love Robert Frost, so it seems like I should knit "The Road Not Taken," especially when the pattern is so beautiful. I loved your comments about the doubts of lace knitting. I thnk that why I hesitate to do much of it.

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  18. What a magical transformation that was. It's so fairy like now. The colour is perfect.

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  19. It's stunning. What a transformation. I don't have enough words to express the beauty of the scarf. Well done!

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  20. love the before and after shots.
    lace is so magic - and this project turned out wonderfully.

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  21. Wow - what a difference blocking makes. The scarf is simply a work of art. It looks so light and airy that I'm tempted to believe you took the blue sky and spun it into yarn.

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  22. What a sight...such huge differences from the "before" and then the "after"! This scarf is delicious...the pattern is so lovely, and that icy-blue shade of yarn is sublime...So elegant! Well done! :o) Happy weekend ((HUGS))

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  23. That is beautiful. The magic of blocked lace is truly amazing.

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  24. It's so beautiful! Lace is magic!

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  25. beautiful!!!! All I can say is gorgeous.

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  26. I just love that scarf. The color and pattern are perfect together.

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  27. That is a very nice scarf, good work! What is the difference between the 10 and 20 row repeats?

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  28. Beautiful. I love how blocking makes all the difference.

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  29. So lovely. Now that I am finally learning to knit lace, IM going to have to learn to block!

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  30. The transformation after blocking is amazing. It's a beautiful scarf, and I love what you wrote about the 'before blocking', and 'after blocking'. So poetic!

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  31. Anonymous11:11 PM

    Wow! Love this scarf and the color is beautiful. Merry Christmas!

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Thank you for commenting!
~Tracy

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