I want to thank everyone for their comments and response to “Maelstrom”. I have to admit, that I never thought that there would be such an overwhelming response as there has been. It’s been mind-blowing to say the least to see my daily hits go from a handful (my own fault since I haven’t been blogging on a regular basis) to over 900 hits a day. Now I could get a big head over it, but instead I am truly humbled by all the wonderful and kind comments that I have seen not only on this blog, but on others as well as the knitting boards. Thank you so much for all of your kind words! They encourage me to continue to try my hand at designing and trust me, there are more ideas floating around in my head that I do plan to put down on paper and work out in fiber.

Some time ago, (something like years) I made a purchase from Carol, The SilkWorker. This woman has a flat out gift when it comes to dying scrumcious silk for spinning. Usually, her rovings are just a few precious ounces and unless you can spin very finely, the final yardage of the yarn is enough for a very small project. Honestly, I’m not much for blues usually, but the name of the roving (Billie Holiday) was all I needed to give myself and excuse to purchase it. I love Billie Holiday, her sultry voice and listening to old scratchy recordings of her songs. She was around long before I was born, but there is something timeless about her voice, something that reaches deep into your heart and pulls at me. When I have the house all to myself, I love to put her on, just close my eyes and let myself get lost in her music.

The fiber sat in my stash for quite some time. I was afraid to spin it. Afraid that I would muck it up and make a complete mess of it all. Just two ounces of fiber. What could I make out of it? Then about a year ago, I needed something special to spin, I needed something that felt like a treat. I took a deep breath, grabbed Billie and sat down at the wheel. I took my time, spinning so carefully as to not add too much twist, yet being careful to add just enough twist so that it wouldn’t all fall apart. Thinly, slowly, carefully. I tried to remain consistant with my spinning. After a few days, the deed was done and it was time to ply it all. I opted for my standard Navajo ply as I could do that from one bobbin to another. No need to wind it all off, no danger of it tangling and becoming an unusable mess. Plied, I ended up with 396 yards (that works out to 1,188 yards as a single… eeek!). The finished yarn sat in my stash for another year. Then a couple of weeks ago I needed to knit something, anything. I needed a special treat during hard times to make myself feel better. Something to literally get me out of my funk and back to my old self. Of course, I picked up Billie. Then I picked up Victorian Lace Today to find a pattern. I chose the Scarf with Striped Border from Weldon’s Volume 5, 1890.

The stitches flowed beneath my fingers like water over rocks in a babbling brook. The warmth of the bamboo needles had their own rhythm as each movement, each stitch made it’s way from one needle to the other and back again until I finally cast off. The scarf looked wonky at best, pulling to one side, looking somehow lopsided. Off to a nice warm soak in the sink. I was not to be discouraged in the least. Out came the blocking wires, the T pins and the towels. Carefully I pulled and tugged. I checked to make it as even as possible, as the borders wanted to flare out more than the body of the scarf. I checked each point to get them to block the same length. When I was satisfied with what I saw and what my yardstick measured, I pulled out my high velocity fan and set it on high to help speed the drying process. What I ended up with was perfect in my eyes.

70 inches long by 12 inches wide.

I think I’m going to have to buy some more silk roving soon, after all, there are more scarf patterns in that book!