The Seaweed Scarf was started this past weekend.

Feigning ignorance, I happily started off on 4.5mm needles as specified in the pattern hoping that everything would turn out well and I could avoid the whole swatch thing. After all, this is just a scarf. Isn’t that why beginners start with a scarf? No swatching needed.

As I finished row 48, I got curious and pulled out the measuring tape to see how close my tension was. The measuring tape plainly revealed that the darn thing was a couple of inches wider than the dimensions given in the pattern. At this rate, the end result wouldn’t be good. If I continued in this manner I would probably end up with a wide scarf that wouldn’t be as long as I would like. If I had purchased the yarn from a local source I could just pop over and pick up a couple more skeins but this yarn came from Virtual Yarns in the UK.

So, on row 49 I switched needle sizes and started a swatch on the first 34 stitches.
Turns out that size 3.75mm needles give me the correct tension.

Today I’m on row 77. The biggest challenge now, will be hanging in there until the thing done. While this lace is interesting it’s very repetitious and I foresee the remaining 523 rows getting a tedious. So, in the near future I’ve decided also work on some pop up paws.