Selfless Stripe Scarf for Someone Special

When someone special asks for something special knitted for them it’s difficult for me to say no. Instead I say “yes” followed by deferral tactics…

“Here’s my current list, your request is going at the bottom and the list is subject to change or re-prioritisation.”

Then I put the list into perspective for them.

“I only complete 2 or 3 knitted items per year because I’m slow at knitting.”

Adding, only if I really don’t want to do it “you provide the yarn” because they won’t know what yarn to get.

It’s not that I don’t want to make things for other people, quite the opposite in fact. I want to make them something they will love and they will use for a long time. When you live with the person making the request there are a number of advantages: you know they are very aware of the time invested in hand-knitted items, you know them well enough that their request has been carefully thought out, you know that they’ve asked for something that they will cherish and that the design inspiration is something they hold close to their heart.

And you know they’ll wait patiently if it takes 2 years to start the project and a further 3 months to complete it.

The request was a stripped scarf in specific colours. Finding an exact colour match was a little tricky but together we managed to find the right pairing with a reasonable yarn weight (I really did not want to knit a gentleman’s scarf in fingering weight yarn). Cascade yarns superwash (aran weight) in Navy (2 skeins) and Ruby (1 skein) was purchased from Deramores (<— refer a friend link).

A few crude design diagrams easily solved the horizontal or vertical stripe debacle and online images provided an idea of possible variations of ribbing (other non-curling stitch patterns were shunned by the requester due to stripe disruption). We settled on 3 x 3 ribbing which is nicely balanced by the three stripes. I have typed up the pattern at the end of this post. Although it’s only a basic beginner level pattern, I have already been asked for it by a relative who saw me knitting it and I know (from not so long ago) that it’s nice if you are new to knitting to have instructions for basic patterns.

Desperate to try inject some interest in this project (let’s face it, 3 x 3 ribbing is hardly exciting) I cast on and off in ribbing. I like the look of this visually blending well with the pattern and it’s practical too because the edges have the same amount of stretch as the main body of work.I also used Ysolda’s tips for avoiding ears when casting off the last stitch. There is no reason why a boring pattern shouldn’t be treated with care to give a perfect finish.

I decided that 1.5m was a minimum length for a men’s scarf and exceeded this target to use up all the yarn. The red ran out first, navy could have gone another two rows!

Final scarf statistics were  16cm x 168cm, 72 stitches per row (24 per colour stripe) and 388 rows. That’s 27,936 stitches knitted with love on 4.5mm needles.

3 x 3 Rib Horizontal Stripe Scarf

Casting on:

Cast on 72 stitches (24 stitches of each colour) in 3 x 3 ribbing – cast on *3 knitwise, 3 purlwise, repeat from *
The three stripes will not be connected at this stage.

Knit 3 x 3 ribbing:

For every row *knit 3, purl 3, repeat from * to end of the row.

To change to a new colour:

Take both the old and new colour yarn to the back of the work through the gap in the needles.
Pick up the new working yarn from underneath the old working yarn.
Begin knitting with the new working yarn (the old yarn can stay at the back of the work).
Pull the working yarn after the first stitch to snug up the stitches and prevent holes.
Continue in 3 x 3 ribbing.

Cast off:

Cast off in 3 x 3 ribbing – knit 2 pass the first knit stitch over the second.

*Knit 1, pass the previous stitch over this new knit stitch.
Purl 1, pass the previous knit stitch over this purl stitch.
Purl 1, pass the previous purl stitch over this purl stitch.
Purl 1 pass the previous purl stitch over this purl stitch.
Knit 1, pass the previous purl stitch over this knit stitch.
Knit 1, pass the previous knit stitch over this knit stitch.
Repeat from * until one stitch remains on the needle.

Cut the yarn and pull through.
Weave in ends.

8 Month Knit Project

8 months to the day and it’s sleeveless!

One of my New Year’s resolutions was to stop knitting accessories (mainly cowls) and finally make something more substantial. I do most of my knitting while traveling (trains and planes, not my daily commute) so it was always going to be a long haul project. I just didn’t realise quite how long and I had grown frustrated by slow progress within a few months. By the time I divided for the armholes I had renewed enthusiasm and could see the end in sight.

Oh and what an end it was. Exactly 8 months since I started the project, I stayed up late, YouTube ‘three needle bind off’ and ‘bind off in seed stitch’ waking poor hubby up. I managed to figure out a three needle bind off in seed stitch but it was more through a lucky first attempt. It was the slowest, heart stopping bind off ever as I awkwardly held the needles, clumsily tried not to drop any stitches and worked the yarn in time to hubby’s snoring.

Here’s the inside shoulder seam – three needle bind off in seed stitch.

And the same shoulder seam on the right side.

So you’d like some details now, right? Okay.

The pattern is Rainy Day Vest from Emma Robertson’s Knitting by Design. I really like the book with it’s more modern patterns and thoughtful approach to choosing yarn. I’m going to forgo the leather pocket… I don’t like the feel of leather and never intended to attach it. I knitted the smallest size, for a 34 inch bust, exactly as set. I know nothing about altering the size of knitwear through tweaking the pattern but I knew the open style would lend itself to being slightly too big.

The yarn is Malabrigo worsted in Tortuga. It’s a charcoal, smokey black and plum merino – gorgeous. I’ve knitted with the same yarn in different colourways before and knew the feel of it well. I was glad I added an extra skein to my basket because I used about 8 meters from the last skein and the armholes would have been too small to join the shoulder seams any earlier.

I’m really pleased to have got this make off the needles and onto my shoulders. I learnt some new knitting techniques and got a totally wearable item out of the process. Although I’m not too keen on the outfit I chose to photograph for this blog post, I’m sure after a few wears I’ll have found better ways to style it.

What’s on your needles?

Carefully Crafted Christmas Presents: Knitting

Along with sewing some Christmas gifts, I got the knitting needles clickety clacking too.

His and hers Bandana Cowls were the first things on and off my needles way back in October. The purple one (Manos del Uruguay Wool Classica) was requested specifically for motorbiking and the green/grey (Malabrigo worsted) one just felt like the right thing to do.

The lumpy bumpy purple yarn was perfect for Urchin by Ysolda Teague a pattern I’ve been wanting to make for my sister-in-law as she really suits this style of hat. I still had more spare yarn so I made matching wrist warmers.

And a 5 hour delay at Frankfurt airport led to a spontaneously knitted present using the remaining Malabrigo yarn. I modified the bandana cowl pattern to give two straight edges but kept the decreases so that the cowl would be snug.

Oooo matchy matchy!

So I didn’t live up to Tasia‘s  high standards on the matchy matchy stakes where knitwear is concerned (for a start she’s a way more talented knitter than I will ever be) but I did use up spare yarn to make wrist warmers to match my honey cowl.

The pattern is from Anna Wilkinson’s Learn to Knit Love to Knit.

What’s next on my needles? I’m procrastinating deciding between a cable knit cowl or a möbius knit cowl (both will be learnt through YouTube!).

*Is knitting to sewing what skiing is to snowboarding?

I only ask because I’ve read sewing bloggers apologise when posting a knitting project. Personally I think we should respect each others choice of craft and not be sniffy about mediums of creativity. But I realise I’m going out on a limb by posting my first knitting post 8 months after starting my (sewing) blog.

My productivity is far lower for knitting than for sewing but my generosity is far higher. The reason for these facts is that I knit in public but I sew in private. By this I mean I take any trip on public transport as an opportunity for knitting so my knitting comes with me on friends and family visits, where, I am invariably asked to knit the person I’m visiting something in their favourite colour! I’m not complaining, I like the trial run with someone else’s choice of pattern/yarn and if I think it has potential the second make, in a better pattern or better yarn, is for me (yeah, even my selflessness has limits!). Anyway, enough of my waffle this knitting project was born out of me just wanting to make something for me.

The honey cowl in aqua Debbis Bliss Cashmerino. I love how this looks with my charcoal grey jumper dress. So much so I’ve already cast on some wrist warmers to squeeze out of the last few meters of the cashmerino yarn. The pattern can be found in Learn to Knit, Love to Knit by Anna Wilkinson… which brings me back to how this rambling post started… I’ve made this pattern before, but not for me!