I’m Knitting As Fast As I Can

All of this experimentation with spinning twist and plying twist has had the unexpected consequence of renewing my interest in knitting with my handspun. While I was rooting around in the roving cupboard, I came across a fingering-weight 2-ply that I spun from some yummy Shetland.

Last year I saw a cute scarf that Brooke knit from a stitch pattern Barbara Walker calls Scrolls. I bookmarked the page on Brooke’s blog but I didn’t even have to pull out my Barbara Walker Treasury because I found a free scarf pattern on the Kollage Yarns website that uses the stitch.

I haven’t knit much on the scarf since I’m trying to finish up a secret project, but I’ve knit enough to realize that the edges of the finished scarf are probably going to roll . . . a lot.

A quick check on Ravelry revealed that at least one person who used this stitch pattern for a scarf reported that the edges on her scarf curl.

I’m contemplating frogging and working the stitch pattern in garter stitch instead of stockinette. Anyone done that with this particular stitch pattern or am I on my own??

Yarns:

• Noro Kureyon - 1 skein #207 and 1 skein #170
• Tahki Donegal Tweed - 1 skein #886

Needle: 6mm Addi Turbo circular

Finished Size: approx. 72 inches long

Link: Ravelry

I first saw a striped scarf made from alternating balls of Noro yarn in the Vogue On The Go book, Scarves Two. The scarf in that book was designed by Kristin Spurkland and was worked in a 3×1 rib with three skeins of Noro Kureyon in colorway #95. It was an interesting idea, but the 3×1 rib didn’t appeal to me since the scarf had an obvious right and wrong side.

A few years later, I stumbled across Adrian’s fabulous Noro striped scarf which was worked in a 2×2 rib. Hmmmm . . . much better. No right or wrong side. So I bought some Kureyon but never got around to working up the scarf.

Fast forward to the recent phenom created by Jared when he knit a 1×1 striped scarf from Noro Silk Garden. All the lovely striped scarves cropping up around blogland and on Ravelry got me thinking. Was there a way to make more subtle stripes?

Why, yes there is:

Here’s how I worked my scarf.

I used two different colors of Kureyon which I spit spliced together (after I cut out the dreaded violet in one of the skeins) and one skein of Tahki Donegal Tweed in a dark color with flecks that complimented the colors in the Kureyon.

• Using the Donegal Tweed, cast on 33 stitches.
• Attach the Kureyon and work across the row as follows: k1, *p1, k1; repeat from * to end of row.
• Using the Donegal Tweed, work back across the row, keeping in the rib pattern.
• Work the next row with the Kureyon.
• In order to alternate the two colors each row, you must use a circular needle so you can slide the stitches to the correct end of the needle when it’s time to switch yarns.
• Keep working in this manner, i.e., 1×1 rib alternating yarns each row, until you almost run out of the Donegal Tweed (you’ll use all the Donegal Tweed but not quite all the Kureyon). Bind off in rib but work an occasional k2tog so the bound-off edge doesn’t flare.

That’s it.

I had a very productive January, knitwise.

It all began when I joined the Stash Knit Down 2008 group on Ravelry and got jazzed up about the January challenge which was to knit up a mile of stashed yarn. Hmmm . . . that sounded like a completely doable goal.

So, I created a spreadsheet in Google Docs and kept track of the yardage from my January knitting projects. You can see my spreadsheet if you click here.

2050 yards as of yesterday. . . not bad. It was permissible to count spinning projects, too, but I didn’t enter the 730 yards of lace-weight singles I spun up over the last week.

Despite the annoying lack of sunlight the last few weeks, I managed to take a photo of nearly every project. I think they’re all on Ravelry now, but you can also see them by clicking on the tab at the top of this page (in the header) that says “2008 Projects.”

There is one completed scarf project that’s not entered yet, both because I haven’t had time to take a photo and because I’d like to work up some more detailed notes before I show it. So stay tuned.

Pattern: Mountain Stream Scarf

Yarn: Buckingham (80% baby alpaca, 20% silk)

Notes: I loved working with this yarn. It’s soft and nicely spun with really good yardage. I completed the scarf with just one skein (218 yards). It’s approximately 7 inches wide and 52 inches long. I altered the Mountain Stream Scarf pattern by working a narrower center panel. This scarf is destined for my son’s teacher.

Project: Urchin by Ysolda Teague

Yarn: Colourmate by Naturally (2 skeins)

Notes: I like the idea of this beret and the clever construction, but the fit is a little unusual. Because the band is knit sideways in garter stitch, it’s rather large compared to the rest of the hat and it stretches out of shape too easily. I have come up with a way that might solve that problem. I’m thinking of knitting the 3-4 band stitches with a needle at least 2 sizes smaller than the one used for the rest of the hat. If you’ve knit this project, that will make sense to you. If someone tries it, let me know if it works. This hat was given to Margene’s friend who has had some health problems lately.

Project: Felted Fortune Cookies by Tanya Brooks

Yarn: Brown Sheep Nature Spun Worsted (one of my all-time favorite yarns for felting)

Notes: These were fast and fun to make. The pattern contains instructions for two sizes; one with a 15-stitch cast-on and one with a 10-stitch cast-on. For the two I made, I cast on 15 stitches for the larger and 12 stitches for the smaller one. I worked them up in the colors of my son’s high school. They’re a gift for his friend who plays two varsity sports sport at the school.