Happy New Year! Happy Cashmere Scarf!

I sort of fell off the radar - I have been on a finishing kick lately!  And it was my birthday!  I turned 26 and all of my friends came out for dinner!  It was the best birthday ever!  We went to Jaleo and it was awesome.  I also drank close to an entire pitcher of sangria, and had my very first hangover the next day.  That wasn’t so fun.

I have so many knit-things to tell you about!  Let’s start with my favorite…
Quivik Cashmere Webs Scarf

Pattern: Quivik Webs, by Gayle Roehm, Interweave Knits Holiday 2007

Yarn: Karabella Supercashmere Fine, 2 balls; color 87

Needles: US 5 Addi Lace

Time: One month - December 2007.  I was pinning it out on the floor to block at 11 pm on the 31st.  Par-tay!

Size:  I went with the “wide” scarf - 5 peaks.  It blocked to 8 inches x 72 inches.  Just draped around my neck it hangs to my knees, and doubled over it hangs just to my waist.

Notes:

• That’s a lot of garter stitch.  Don’t get me wrong, I love the look of garter lace more than stockinette, because of the lack of curling (hate the curling!) but it’s a lot of garter stitch.  A lot.  I was making deals with myself to finish it up at the end.  At least all the orenburg style things I have in the queue have a border, so there will be something going on in there.
• I think this blog post was the most useful thing I came across.  (Me, I wouldn’t have said “there’s a 5 stitch garter border in this part of the scarf” if that blasted row 4 didn’t have a 5 stitch border!)
• Supercashmere Fine is fiiiiine.  I must find another scarf pattern so I can use this!  I know, I usually like to try different yarns, but I don’t care!  It was lovely to work with.
• Lace is fun! The knitting was just so so, but watching it open up when blocking was amazing.  This has totally rekindled my flame for my long forgotten Mountain Stream Scarf!  The Faux Russian Stole!  Orenburg Style Scarf [pdf]!

I wore it all day, just to show it off to people.

I used almost every single T-pin I own, pinning it down about every half inch (string blocking is great, but it still pulled in all narrow in the middle).

Fake blocking board - checked fabric and some old towels.  The scarf comes in right at 6 feet long, and alas my checkerboard fabric was only 3 feet long.  So out came the scissors and in half with the fabric!  I I think 1 yard cost me something like $2, so if I find myself in pinch without big square, I can always go get a new section, and have this to block scarves.  It also causes a headache something fierce when you stare at it for too long