Scarves? I thought you hated knitting scarves?
Yes, yes I do. Or rather, I thought I did. Strike that. Readjust. Its not that I hated knitting scarvesits that scarves bored me. Inch after inch of the Same Damn Thing, ya know? And they take so LONG to finish. And yet, theyre cozy. They add an easy dash of color and texture to otherwise dreary black winter coats. Theyre fun to wear. So how to reconcile the dread of knitting a scarf with the joy of wearing one, or gifting one? Im sure Im not the first one to hit upon the following trick:
Combine scarf-knitting with trying out a new yarn, especially yarns with interesting texture. So simple…so why am I so slow to figure this out?
The famously lovely and talented La Brainy sent me a skein of Celestial Merino for my birthday. This stuff could seriously give Koigu a run for its money. One skein would have been enough for a pair of socks, but I have no shortage of sock yarn in the stash, so I decided it would be a lace scarf instead. Heres the (very little bit o) progress so far. I started it on the honeymoon, worked it for a little bit, and havent picked it up since. Ill get back to it as soon as Lara is done.
My Secret Pal gave me a skein of a gorgeous knobbly yarn in fantastic fall colors. What to do with one skein of a great yarn thats flown all the way from Oz and so isnt likely to be joined by others of its kind? Heres a happy little garter stitch scarf. Yep, garter. Simple is best for yarns like thisallows it room to show off its fabulous texture. It took me a little over an hour, I think. I cant wait until the weathers cool enough to wear it.
Inspired by the gift yarn, I turned to some yarn Id spun up almost two years ago. It had been sitting around because it wasnt enough yarn for a sweater. Its very thick and thin and really overspun in places, too. Extremely lazy spinning that was done for stress relief with pretty much no regard to results. Spinnings all about process for me. Luckily lazy spinning creates just the kind of texture that lends itself to lazy scarf knitting. Garter stitch again, and the thick bits and overspinning are making for really interesting texture. Ive got a pound of rovings worth of yarn. (Gee Cari, I suspect that a pound of roving probably adds up to a pound of yarn.) Maybe Ill make a matching hat? Some legwarmers? Bumpy little cowls for the hounds? Dunno. I wish I could claim responsibility for the colorway, but I bought the roving already dyed. Its Lornas Laces, actually. I think the colorway was Iris Garden, though Im not sure. It was quite a while ago. Anyway, heres the scarf so far:
Want to try a new yarn but dont want to commit to buying a sweaters worth? The lovely and far too generous Andrea gave me a yarny gift certificate for my birthday this year, and I used it to buy a skein of Mango Moon Recycled Silk and a skein of Alchemy Bamboo. Im going to make a drop-stitch scarf from each. Heres the Alchemy Bamboo. Its enjoyable to knit with (my first time using bamboo yarn) but I dont think I need to rush out and buy more of it. The colorway is fantastic though, so I could see myself buying a wool blend from Alchemy in the near future.
I havent started working with the Recycled Silk yet. I was a bit dismayed that it smelled rather like a goat when it arrived. I gave it a quick soak in water and one of those made-for-handknitters type of wool washes (I forget the brand and dont feel like standing up to check), hoping to get rid of that smell. So maybe you arent supposed to submerge 100% silk in water or something? I dont know. Cause now it smells like dog instead. Ive already soaked it once, so I may as well try again. Im not going to knit it until it stops smelling like a barnyard, because thats not really a scent I care to wrap around my neck.
No, I havent been spending most of my time knitting scarves. Mostly Ive been working on Lara. Ive started the decreases for the second sleeve. It wont be much longer now to FO. Pictures soon. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe.
Do you remember when Rock Chick had the same problem with her Rogue? It was ghastly smelling Alpacas from Peru or something like that. She used an odour guard kitty litter and it got the smell out. Check her archives. Good Luck! Hi to the pups from the pups!
Posted by: Ande
wow this will be a winter of lots of fun and funky scarves for you this year!
I LOVE the colors!
Posted by: stinkerbell
On a similar note, I never thought I would see a pattern book about scarves at all worth buying, but a friend of mine showed me her copy of Scarf Style, and I have been thinking about getting a copy of my own ever since. There are at least five things in there I could seriously imagine wanting to knit, which is more than I can say for some Rowans or Rebeccas.
Posted by: susan
Gorgeous lovely scarves, Cari! you’re going to need a wardrobe of coats to match, what a problem. I checked out that scarf book, too, this weekend at the LYS and to my surprise I felt the same way. and if that spinning was unintentional the results sure do rock.
Posted by: caroline
Wow! From 0 scarves to 5 in 60 seconds! (Or 4, if the silk can’t be freshened up. Maybe seal it in a container with a box of baking soda for a while?) You’re totally right about trying fun new yarns for a scarf — and who wants a superthick nubby fuzzy sweater anyway? Well, I guess some people do, but I don’t. (The Sugar Maple is looking gorgeous in that lace pattern, whatever it is!)
Posted by: alison
Cari’s knitting scarves! Cari’s knitting scarves!
That Celestial Merino looks yummy, though.
Posted by: Iris
Do you remember when Rock Chick had the same problem with her Rogue? It was ghastly smelling Alpacas from Peru or something like that. She used an odour guard kitty litter and it got the smell out. Check her archives. Good Luck! Hi to the pups from the pups!
Posted by: Ande
wow this will be a winter of lots of fun and funky scarves for you this year!
I LOVE the colors!
Posted by: stinkerbell
On a similar note, I never thought I would see a pattern book about scarves at all worth buying, but a friend of mine showed me her copy of Scarf Style, and I have been thinking about getting a copy of my own ever since. There are at least five things in there I could seriously imagine wanting to knit, which is more than I can say for some Rowans or Rebeccas.
Posted by: susan
Gorgeous lovely scarves, Cari! you’re going to need a wardrobe of coats to match, what a problem. I checked out that scarf book, too, this weekend at the LYS and to my surprise I felt the same way. and if that spinning was unintentional the results sure do rock.
Posted by: caroline
Wow! From 0 scarves to 5 in 60 seconds! (Or 4, if the silk can’t be freshened up. Maybe seal it in a container with a box of baking soda for a while?) You’re totally right about trying fun new yarns for a scarf — and who wants a superthick nubby fuzzy sweater anyway? Well, I guess some people do, but I don’t. (The Sugar Maple is looking gorgeous in that lace pattern, whatever it is!)
Posted by: alison
Cari’s knitting scarves! Cari’s knitting scarves!
That Celestial Merino looks yummy, though.
Posted by: Iris
The thick-thin would be great in a garter stitch hat and mittens. There’s a pattern in Homespun, Handknit. I worked the hat up with some brown romney in one day.
Posted by: Jennifer
Holy Cow this is just the post that I was drafting this morning! I swear there are some knitters out there that I think I share brainwaves with. I just picked up Scarf Style and was creating a post all about scarf season with pics of my one completed and one in process scarf and well… then I read your post. Now I’m feeling all inadequate with my one and a half scarves. I’ll have to postpone the scarfy post lest I just look like a little poser. 😉
Posted by: melanie
great looking scarves, cari! it must be in the air; i just knit up a scarf this weekend.
i have a question for you about circ knitting–i see that you’re circ knitting a garter st scarf. ok, pray tell, how does that work? because i was always told (and in my one circ needle hat making experience) that circ knitting magically creates st st just by knitting each row. so…how do you get garter st on circs?
on the circ note–i bought cat bordhi’s book; just ordered some lorna’s sock yarn and addi turbos and will be trying out the two circ needle sock making! anything to avoid holes in seams! so thank you for the tip.
Posted by: kaarin
Well damn it if the flowers wool doesn’t look fab knitted up. It’s lovely and soft against your neck too……I LOVE the lace piece colourway too, such warm luscious colours.
Posted by: Secret Pal
Hey, I think it’s cold enough today! The scarves look fabulous. Welcome to the fold, darlin.
Posted by: Em
The thick-thin would be great in a garter stitch hat and mittens. There’s a pattern in Homespun, Handknit. I worked the hat up with some brown romney in one day.
Posted by: Jennifer
Holy Cow this is just the post that I was drafting this morning! I swear there are some knitters out there that I think I share brainwaves with. I just picked up Scarf Style and was creating a post all about scarf season with pics of my one completed and one in process scarf and well… then I read your post. Now I’m feeling all inadequate with my one and a half scarves. I’ll have to postpone the scarfy post lest I just look like a little poser. 😉
Posted by: melanie
great looking scarves, cari! it must be in the air; i just knit up a scarf this weekend.
i have a question for you about circ knitting–i see that you’re circ knitting a garter st scarf. ok, pray tell, how does that work? because i was always told (and in my one circ needle hat making experience) that circ knitting magically creates st st just by knitting each row. so…how do you get garter st on circs?
on the circ note–i bought cat bordhi’s book; just ordered some lorna’s sock yarn and addi turbos and will be trying out the two circ needle sock making! anything to avoid holes in seams! so thank you for the tip.
Posted by: kaarin
Well damn it if the flowers wool doesn’t look fab knitted up. It’s lovely and soft against your neck too……I LOVE the lace piece colourway too, such warm luscious colours.
Posted by: Secret Pal
Hey, I think it’s cold enough today! The scarves look fabulous. Welcome to the fold, darlin.
Posted by: Em