The only 2 ply lace scarf I will ever make!

I can't imagine that I will ever crochet another 2 ply lace scarf...

The stitches are wonderfully delicate... and I love the way they look...

But they're a little bit too "fly away" if you know what I mean...

It's as though there's not enough weight in the scarf to allow it to drape...

But it does look gorgeous...

BUT it was pretty fiddly to make...

So...

NO!

Not again.

Christmas Eve Blocking...

Every Christmas I end up in a last-minute-muddle

and vow that I will be more organized the following year!

And here we are yet again...

It's Christmas Eve, and I'm busy finishing off gifts.

At least it's not the wee small hours of Christmas Day....

It's 5 pm on Christmas Eve - and the final gift is all pinned out and blocking as we speak. This time I'm using an arrangement of polystyrene foam boards, and about a squillion pins...

Hopefully I'll remember to take photos before I wrap it in the morning - but just in case I don't - here's some close ups of the stitch pattern:

And a reminder of how it looked before blocking:

And again after:

(well during really)

It looks like a completely different scarf, doesn't it?

Laceweight Ziggy

Yes. 

I'm obsessed with "The Zigmeister".

It's yet another Ziggy Lace Scarf.

This time it's a LACE WEIGHT yarn... 

That's a 2 ply yarn...

And Yes. It IS a Christmas gift! Hopefully.

It's surprisingly fiddly. 

Somewhere in my naive mind, I thought that a 2 ply yarn worked on a 4.0 mm hook would actually work up quite quickly - but I couldn't have been more wrong...

This is really, really slow work!

It Blocked Beautifully...

How about that?




The Ziggy Lace Scarf blocked up beautifully - and is now the perfect length - YIPPEE!



I do need to organize some blocking wires for myself though...

Is it too late to send a letter to Santa?

I fiddled about and used a bunch of straight knitting needles - but it really wasn't ideal...

And just to refresh your memory about how the stitches looked BEFORE blocking:



And here they are AFTER:



Pretty cool, huh?

Moving On.

Working my way through the Christmas list...

Checking off item number one - the snails are done!

Item number two is the red Ziggy Lace Scarf.

Free online pattern available here.

I'd have liked to make it a few inches longer, but I ran out of yarn. 

So I'm hoping to be able to add a little to the length during the blocking process.

The scarf is off having a quick soak, then I'll pin her out for a bit of a stretch.

Really looking forward to seeing how the lace blocks up.

Here's a before shot of the stitch pattern for you:

Ziggy Lace...

Well, it suddenly dawns on me that I'd better get a few gifts made!

I was fussing about the other day looking for a simple lace crochet scarf pattern - when I remembered about the Ziggy Lace Scarf. I've made a few of these before, and I find the pattern easy to follow and quick to work up... Particularly important - since it's already December.

I'm working it up in a 4ply fingering weight yarn - it's this hand-dyed Moseley Park yarn, from the Bendigo Sheep and Wool Show:



Just getting started, and I'm thinking about making the scarf a bit wider than the pattern.

Best to make my mind up sooner rather than later!

While I decide, here's the Ziggys I've made in the past:

This one here was made for a swap:



I didn't blog about this other one when I made it. Not sure why not, but here's a few photos now: