Done with Entrelac!

I, somehow, managed to find the time to finish the Entrelac scarf I started back in December last weekend, blocking it this week. I am overly thrilled with how lovely this scarf turned out - yes, it took a while, and the eight stitch back-and-forth got a little old around skein three, but the end project, as modeled by the lovely Anne of my Thursday night knitting group, is gorgeous. And long. Long scarves are always good things.

The pattern comes from Freckles and Pearls and used four balls of Plymouth Yarn's Boku in colorway 12. I love the colorway - the self-striping yarn provides the basket weave pattern definition and really pops after being washed and blocked. It was also surprisingly soft once washed. I let the scarf soak for about twenty minutes in Brown's Top of the Sheep Shampoo before blocking and it came out silky soft.

What I didn't love about the yarn were the several breaks I experienced while knitting - the Boku would literally break while in the middle of picking up stitches or knitting through a row. Luckily, these tended to be in spaces in the pattern where I could easily fix the issue. I read that Noro's Silk Garden (with a similar composition to Boku) is less prone to break, but I can't help but be attracted to the pricetag of Boku. It sells for $6 a skein at my local LYS while Silk Garden normally runs $10+. I used four skeins (could probably get away with three), which sets the price point for this project at $24 versus $40+.

I remember now why I stopped knitting people scarves for holiday gifts around August: they simply take too long, but this entrelac scarf was definitely worth it. It's all packed up and ready to be mailed out, which officially ends my holiday 2008 knitting. Better late than never, right?

How lovely it has been to lounge about! I'm unsure I've ever had such a semester as this past fall semester and am more than thrilled for it to officially be over. My break, thus far, has consisted of much visiting, even more laughing, and more eating than should be allowed. And there's knitting. Always with the knitting.

I'm still knitting holiday presents, actually. My friend Joanna and I have a holiday tradition: we don't celebrate until February. This is usually because she is working on something lovely and homemade while I shopped around for the perfect book for her. This year, it's because she's having a baby and I'm knitting. Her scarf, an entrelac pattern done in Boku yarn, is a bit more along than the picture, taken before finals week when I still had spare moments to knit, and is turning out really nicely. Entrelac knitting is really great for those yarns that self stripe, like Boky and its more expensive cousin Noro, and is a great pick-up, put-down project. For this particular pattern, you're only working eight stitches at a time, making it easy to work on it for fifteen or so minutes, put it down, and return to it later marveling at how much progress you've made. It took me a little bit to figure out how the actual knitting works but find myself zooming through it now. I did happen upon a tutoral on entrelac knitting, in case you're curious.

This is the last of the holiday presents, thankfully. The majority of my knitted tidings have been passed out to happy (and hopefully warm) friends and family. I can, perhaps, begin working on a project or two for myself. Up for my 2009 knitting: the Lizard Ridge blanket and a new pair of mittens.

Now, however, it is time for me to go to bed.