René is my holiday knit. A simple lace scarf, using the Solids Club November yarn.
Named for René Lalique, because some of his glass always reminded me of Sea Glass and the rivulet shapes of the lace remind me of his sinuous art nouveau forms.
Cast on Date: Dec 26, 2008
Cast on: Long Tail
Pattern: Rivolo, by Anne Hanson at Knitspot
Yarn: Lochan, 50% Merino/50% Tencel 4ply from The Yarn Yard
Colour: November Solids Club, Seaglass (green)
Needles: 4mm Pony 35cm straight aluminium needles
Stitches: 50
Pattern Repeats: 46 (of 30)
Blocked: Yes, lightly
Finished Size: 8.5″ by 70″
Cast Off: Lace cast off, purlwise
Cast Off Date: Jan 1st, 2009
Ravelry Project: www.ravelry.com/projects/plumbum/rivolo
This would have been a much faster knit at any other time of the year, with fewer competing demands. Probably six to eight actual knitting hours in this – it’s a very quick and simple knit in a weighty yarn. Would make a great “first lace” project, especially if knitted to the pattern size of just 30 repeats.
Knitting this yarn put me in another time and place, but one that I can’t quite identify. The colour of the yarn is subtle, almost dusky in a way. The gloss is reminiscent of … what… Rayon? It’s almost indefinable, but there is a whiff of Granny’s dressing table about it. Something in my experience, long ago. A memory so distant that I can’t reach out far enough to grab it. Something 1930’s or 1940’s about it. Something that was old, even when I was very young.
Rivolo suits the yarn – there’s an old fashioned whiff about this heavy lace too. The two together put me in mind of something that I barely recall and I do think it might have been something that Grandma wore – though the grandma I recall wouldn’t have had anything quite this pretty in her room, I am sure!