FO: Strangling Vines Lace Scarf

I wanted to make my aunt a nice, lacey scarf for Christmas. When this yarn arrived (I purchased it in a destash), it seemed like a perfect match for a pattern I had had in my queue: the Strangling Vine Lace Scarf. I was a little wary of the pattern- after all, who wants to wear a scarf with the word “strangling” in the title? However, it was a very pretty pattern and looked nice and simple.

It was a very easy, simple pattern. It’s a four row pattern, but two of the rows just involve purling. If you can yarn over, knit two together, and slip slip knit, you can do this pattern. However, it gets really monotonous. Knitting a scarf in fingering weight yarn takes forever, and seems like it will never end. I wasn’t sure I’d get it done in time for Christmas!

I heard a rule somewhere that a scarf should be about as long as you are tall. My aunt is 5’4” (64 inches). I knit the scarf until I reached 55”, and then decided to rely on blocking to do the rest. Speaking of blocking, this was the first time I used blocking wires. They take forever to thread through, but it’s very worth it to get a nicely-blocked scarf without points along the long edges. I was impressed with how the yarn blocked. I was expecting the yarn to spring back a bit after blocking, due to the 20% nylon content, but it maintained its blocked shape perfectly. I forget to measure it after blocking, but I tried it on and it seemed to be a nice length.

The yarn is a little bit of a blah color for me- I prefer accessories that add a pop of color to an outfit. However, I think that my aunt will love it. The yarn is so soft and wonderful. Although it’s intended as a sock yarn, I’m not sure that I would like socks made out of this, and how well they would wear.

Pattern: Strangling Vines Lace Scarf

Yarn: Classic Elite Alpaca Sox

Colorway: Sky, possibly- I don’t have the ballband, but this is my best guess.

Needles: US4

The Verdict: It’s so soft and lacey- it was a ton of effort, but I love the finished object!