Pattern: Lily of the Valley Scarf from
Knitted Lace of Estonia by Nancy Bush
Yarn: 1 x 50g skein of
Malabrigo Lace (100% wool, 430m/50g) in “Emerald”
Needles: 3.25mm KnitPicks circs
It’s such a good feeling to have a finished project already this year when it’s not even halfway through the month! 
January tends to be one of the months for my occasional knitting slump, due to festive knitting completely sucking any love of playing with yarn out of me. But being selfish has clearly given me a renewed interest in what comes off the needles.
I had already signed up for the UK Swap when I got this book and was hopeful that my swap partner would not be averse to lacy scarves so that I could have a good reason for casting on a pattern almost immediately. The reviews on Amazon UK are somewhat unfavourable, but I think it’s a fine book. I imagine if you were expecting it to be “The Ultimate Guide to Estonian Lace Knitting” then you would indeed be disappointed. But I wanted this book because of the beautiful patterns, so I’m happy.
Unfortunately, there are some errata for the pattern, but on the positive side, it meant I had the charts printed out on a separate piece of paper that I could stuff in my knitting bag rather than having the whole book in use.
The scarf is knitted from the pointed edging upwards and then the second edging is worked separately and grafted on to the end. I think had I considered it more, I might have chosen to knit the scarf in two halves and grafted them together so that the pattern falls in the same direction when the scarf is worn. Although I never know whether it’s more desirable to have a scarf that’s more aesthetically pleasing when it’s worn, or whether it’s better to not have a line running across halfway where the pieces have been joined.
I have already professed my love for all things Nancy, anyway, and I am not going to be removing her photo from my shrine of my favourite pattern designers any time soon. I just hope that I will knit more patterns from this book very soon and not leave it for two years like I did with Victorian Lace Today…
As I gave away the first skein of Malabrigo Lace that I bought, this is my first real encounter with knitting it, rather than just squishing it fondly.
As I mentioned in a previous post, the yarn has a tendency to be unevenly spun. This doesn’t show when it’s knitted up, but it is awkward and often made me think that I’d split a stitch or had too many on the needle. But I’ll easily overlook that for the incredible cashmere-like softness of the yarn. The colours were perfect: just subtle variegation that didn’t interfere with the stitch pattern. There was some colour loss during washing, but after rinsing the water ran clear, so I’m not concerned about the colour transferring onto the recipient’s neck.
Next week I will go and buy pretty wrapping and little pressies and get ready to send the whole parcel off. I just hope my swap partner approves..!
