Wednesday, October 05, 2005

Scarves - redone post

You ever start a five-minute job and realize it's going to take 15, but you've only got 5? Hence the edits.


As I mentioned through the mid to latter parts of September, I found myself compelled to enter the scarf contest at the Knit-Out. Okay, the kitten still needs a leg and so forth, but there was also the draw of it being an easy way to do charity knitting for the Boston area. Most of the time my charity knitting goes to Afghans for Afghans, just because they are seeking wool, and that's what I work in for the most part.

The rules of the contest were that it had to be original and could not be out of Scarf Style. I made two scarves. Niether was overly difficult.

The orange one was one skein Cascade 220 Quattro, cast on 231 stitches in K3 P3 rib and k3 p3 rib until the skein was about to run out. When it came time to cast off, I picked a pattern of dropping a stitch in the P3 at regular intervals, alternating 1 P3 and 2 P3s cast off between dropped ones (see the picture, it's hard to describe). I was going for the question how simple it could be and still be considered original. It would be a good beginner scarf because of the ribbing, but the rows are very long and at just about the right "length" for such a scarf, you're ready for it to be over.

The second prize winner was the moebius. I first made moebiuses when Elizabeth Zimmerman published Knitting Around, and I've made several of her Moebius Vests over the years. The moebius is the one-sided piece turns around and joins on itself. The problem is how to have it be reversible? Even rowed stripes are going to have a an obvious sidedness to it. My stripes are 31 rows long, so each color starts on the opposite side from the prior stripe. I start in the middle of one stripe with a provisional cast on, then when it comes back around to be joined, make the other part of the stripe before grafting the garter stitch together.

The part I like is the twisted I-cord around the edging. It's Joyce Williams' development, described in her book Latvian Dreams, also available from Schoolhouse Press. I have her pamphlet on Twisted and Braided Applied I-Cord, available direct from Joyce. Notice the lack of color blip?

Comments:
LOVE the colors in that moebius!
 
Thanks so much for saying so. I'll admit I had help from Himself, since my color sense is about New England boiled dinner.

2 skeins each of Brown Sheep LP Worsted Deep Pine and Fushia. With lots left over of the 2nd skeins.
 
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