MODS Beads, cast-on, alternate short-row technique, and bind-off.

-Using crocheted cast on. After the c/o row, I purl back. This becomes important, because it’s helpful to place stitch markers (if you use them) on the cast-on row to make it easier to count the eleventy-zillion 387 stitches. And since one edge has 9 sts and the other has 10, you need to know whether you’re on the RS or WS as you’re placing the markers. So the crochet cast on is RS, and the purl back is WS, then you begin the lace chart.

-Matte irridescent greenish purplish size 6 beads. I’m placing them in the CDD at the points, then up that line, and will probably be placing them in other places as I go, but I haven’t decided yet.

4/1/12 My mom’s birthday is at the end of April. She’s an avid gardener. I think this will be the perfect lightweight scarf to wear with a t-shirt and jeans. The yarn and the pattern just seemed to say “Mom” to me.

She is a bit earthy and has often been known to recite inappropriate rhymes. The name of this project comes from the following:

Spring has sprung
Fall has fell
Winter is here
And it’s colder than usual.

:)

4/3/12 I’m really liking this pattern so far. The repeats are fairly easy to memorize after the first couple, and since there are 23, it’s nice not having to look at the chart after the first couple.

The yarn is REALLY pretty, and it is easy to work with. I think with the silk, it will give a nice drape.

4/14/12 I am up to row 23 of the lace chart. Almost there! Once you get to row 17 of the chart, you have to start moving the marker one stitch to the right, but it’s a simple matter of popping it under the open loop stitch, so you don’t have to remove the stitch, then the marker, then replacing them both in their new positions like you do with some patterns. This would be going a little faster if I weren’t adding beads. I’m not sure they add much to this pattern, because the lace is interesting enough, but I’m already in. I’m doing a knitathon tomorrow, and hope to get it mostly done.

4/15/12 Almost finished with the short-row section. This part always flies. :) I substituted k2tog for the ssk, and do an ssptbl instead of p2tog. SSPtbl is similar to ssk; slip as if to knit, slip as if to knit, then p2tog through the back loop, which is slightly awkward, but once you get the hang of it, it’s pretty quick. It looks much cleaner in these crescent-type short-rows.

4/18/12 So yeah. Somehow, despite my most accurate counting, I became 8 stitches long on one side. Or 8 sts short on the other. After writing out the remaining short-rows and seeing if it wasn’t just my frazzled brain overthinking it, I decided to put in a lifeline, and proceed by K4 after the decrease on the short side and K6 after the decrease on the long side until they are at an even point. I was far enough from the ends that I think it will not be noticeable. If it is, I’ll just tell my mom that the skinny end is the one that’s supposed to hang down decoratively in the front. ;)

4/20/12 I took it down to 6 sts on each end, then opted for the garter/eyelet edge. I knit 3 rows, incorporating the extra st by k2tog at the end of each row to continue joining the short rows. Then I did one row of yo/k2tog. I wanted to put a bead in each k2tog, but didn’t have enough so did every other one. Then I continued with garter until all sts were used up (I think two more rows). I tried the p2tog b/o, but I didn’t liked the way it looked, so I did JSSBO kwise. I don’t know if I love this edge or not, and the scarf is much skinnier than I thought it was going to be. It is soaking right now, so we’ll see how it comes out after the block. I adore the yarn, and the pattern is good, but I think I’d make it a little deeper crescent, maybe k3 after the decreases on the short rows instead of k5. That’s just personal preference. It might grow substantially in the blocking.

Final Thoughts Like I haven’t already written a novel.

• This thing was looooong when I finished blocking. I would take out a few repeats (probably 4) if I made it again. I do love the lace edging pattern.
• There were a couple of bead placement choices that I would have moved. If you are thinking of beads, feel free to contact me and I can tell you where I put them in the chart.
• The post block drape of this yarn is wonderful, but I adored how it looked and felt prior to blocking. It would make a lovely cardigan or something that didn’t needed to be blocked so aggressively.

This was my Quarter Master project for Studio Knitting & Needlepoint, which is the LYS where I bought the yarn.