Cobweb Lace Scarf

I made this scarf as a Christmas gift for my mother-in-law. She burst into tears when she opened it, and has worn it at every family or formal occasion since then, including to have a group portrait taken with her daughter's family. I feel inexpressably honored by her pleasure with this gift.

One of the supreme challenges for a lace knitter is to knit a Shetland Lace shawl in cobweb-weight wool. I'm glad I decided to start with a smaller item, this lovely scarf designed by Gladys Amedro, because I was terrified the whole time that the yarn would break. In fact, it did a couple of times, but it was not as bad as I feared.

The pattern is the Fine Lace (Stole and) Scarf, on page 27 of Amedro's book. The yarn is 1-ply cobweb wool that I bought from Patternworks; the same yarn is sold by Lacis. It took less than one ball of the yarn--perhaps 400 yards, about $4 worth--for four or five months of knitting. Pretty good mileage, if you ask me! I think I must have used a size 2 (US) needle. This yarn is marginally thinner than the cobweb sold by Jamieson & Smith, and if I ever attempt another cobweb item I'll use the J&S yarn to spare my nerves!

Here it is being blocked. I tape a bath towel to a table, then use dressing wires and pins to stretch out the scarf (not too tight, just enough to open out the pattern). Amedro thoughtfully provided a doubled stitch along the edges, which gives plenty of strength for blocking this delicate article.

If I made this again, I'd add some more repeats to the center Print o' the Wave portion. The scarf is a bit short, though it did come out at about the 45" x 15" size given in the pattern.

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