Midnight Scarf

When I decided to design Midnight Scarf, I had in mind the idea of a garden at midnight - something dark and tangled and mysterious. There was also a favourite lace stitch that I wanted to use. I altered the stitch a little, to get the shape of a creeping vine and away I went!  The combination of the deep blue and purple colourway of the Fantastic Knitting Zephyr lace weight yarn and the trailing vine stitch worked perfectly.  Something very mysterious was evolving. Now, I needed a "finish" to the scarf.

The lace stitch had a two stitch "panel" in the repeat which could be "opened-up". As a result, I ended up doubling the stitches towards the end of the scarf, which created a loose ruffle. Think of a vine that covers a wall. It starts from a thin trunk and spreads everywhere.

In my mind, as I was knitting the scarf, I had visions of "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil", a book that I actually read while vacationing in Hilton Head - about an hour outside of Savannah Georgia - the setting of the story. There were lots of mysterious happenings in graveyards covered with vines throughout the book.

I also had the lines of a poem by Tennyson - "Come into the garden, Maud...." running through my head.

The absence of light or the presence of just a hint of light, creates an eerie feeling. I wanted to capture this sense of the darkest of light - lace at midnight in Midnight Scarf.

In spite of its mysterious overtones, Midnight scarf is very easy to knit. It begins with a provisional cast on at the centre back. The scarf is knit down to the ruffle and then cast off. Repeat for the other half of the scarf.

Night in a November Garden

Unravelling the mystery of lace.