Monday, February 13, 2006

International Scarf of Mystery

Happy Valentine's Day to all and especially to my International Scarf Exchange pal! Love is in the air, even for the WeatherPixie (thanks, Tamsin)!

As promised, here's more on the Print O' the Wave scarf, knit in JaggerSpun Zephyr (50% wool, 50% silk). The silk content is a delight to hand and eye, but its singular luster played all sorts of tricks on my digicam. This image comes closest to capturing its elusive color, a rich peacock green.

Print O' the Wave scarf detail

My pal expressed a fondness for certain colors; her self-description reminded me of the heroine of Da Vinci Code. Like clever Sophie, she too has crossed the Channel (en français, la Manche). Her journey suggested the traditional Shetland lace pattern Print O' the Wave and the left and right Ocean Wave edgings with their graceful cresting wave shapes and zigzag trellis, all charted in the magnificent book Heirloom Knitting.

Before blocking, the scarf was 66 inches (167 cm) long. Stretched on blocking wires, it pinned out to 80 inches (203 cm), as seen here in my hallway with a familiar object for scale. This photo also demonstrates the limits of my digicam's depth of focus (and, yes, your photographer is prone on the carpet).

Scarf blocking

The same subject, different perspective (your photographer is standing on a chair).

Three-quarters view of scarf

And the scarf ready for mailing.

Scarf ready for mailing

I considered a Meg Swanson style photo, but will leave that for the recipient. Enjoy your scarf, my pal – wear it in good health and with my good wishes! And many thanks to adventurous Celia and (self-described) impatient Cynthia for organizing a wicked good exchange!

8 comments:

Will Pillage For Yarn said...

Stunning! I'm sure your scarf pal is going to be thrilled!

Stephanie said...

Nice work! It's almost too nice to wear! :)

Melanie said...

That's really pretty! I'm sure she'll love it!

Anonymous said...

So lovely! Amazing work.

Mitchypoo said...

OMG, that scarf is beautiful!!! I'm taking a scarf today to a french laundry to block for me, i just can't figure out how to do it so nice like you. If she doesn't love it, well...

Anonymous said...

That is gorgeous!

Anonymous said...

The stole is lovely -- the color and the pattern work together so beautifully, and I love your photography techniques!

Lloer said...

This is a quick sneaky comment to say that I got the scarf today and I love it!

I'll be posting to the ISE blog properly with some pics.

It's absolutely perfect and I haven't taken it off yet!

*lots of grateful hugs*

Emma