FO: Cosimo Scarf in Simonetta yarn

Yet another FO to tell you about… This time it is the Cosimo scarf, knitted in Louisa Harding’s Simonetta yarn.

The Cosimo scarf pattern is a free pattern which you can download as a PDF here.  The instructions give the yarn requirements to knit the scarf in either Louisa Harding’s Simonetta, Grace Handbeaded or Nerissa.  I was tempted to do it in Grace Hand Beaded, but thought that the Simonetta would make the scarf feel more floaty and delicate and it only took 1 ball.

I don’t knit a lot of lace patterns, and at first I had to really concentrate on what I was doing, to make sure that I didn’t wrong. Trying to rip back lace knitting is not fun. I get confused with the yarn overs etc! But once I got into it, the 16 row pattern repeat became quite easy.

And look.. I even wet blocked it properly with blocking wires and my new blocking mat (which I will tell you about in another post)! Well you have to with lace knitting, don’t you.

 

I don’t get this blocking business

I decided that I ought to try blocking my latest blanket squares properly, rather than subjecting them to the steam iron and in effect melting the acrylic yarn.

So I got a towel and pinned the two squares out. They already measured the right dimensions so didn’t need to stretch them.

I then found some old hankies, put them under the tap to wet them, and laid them on top:

I left it over night and most of today to dry out, and this evening I unpinned the squares and what did I find… they’re no different than before.  The edges still curl and they look exactly the same as before.

I don’t really know what to do now… I’d be better off steaming them again! At least that does something.

It’s a miserable evening here in the UK. Raining again for about the 1000th day in a row and it was even misty this morning. It’s July for goodness sake and we’ve had to put on the central heating to take the damp chill off. Roll on next Tuesday and Santorini.

Why didn’t I read this before?

I finished knitting Evie at the weekend and decided I would check on the best way of blocking the pieces of the jumper. Being 100% cotton I wasn’t sure whether wet cloths or steaming was better for cotton yarn.

This article “To block or not to block” seems to be very helpful, listing how to block what yarn.

For cotton, the writer always steams. So that’s what I’ll try.

However I also read that synthetic yarns should not be steamed otherwise you’ll end up with limp pieces. What yarn are my blanket squares made of..? 100% acrylic. And how did I block them the other evening..? I steamed them. Instead they should just be pinned and spritzed with water and left to dry. Oh well. I know what to do with the future squares.

We learn by our mistakes don’t we? Particularly when it comes to knitting I find! I wish I’d read that article first though.