Wednesday, January 23, 2008

cream wool scarf


this is the cream wool scarf i'm working on at the moment, it's 100% merino (Schachenmayr 'extra merino big' , €3.50 per 50g). I got the wool in Germany before christmas. It's the 'clapotis' pattern from knitty but i'm not making it as wide. I'm hoping it'll keep me warm when i walk home from the train, if it's very cold i like to wrap my scarf around my head and neck so it needs to be wide enough and long enough , not the most stylish but by far the warmest solution. I like the way it curls when not stretched.

I learned the hard way that it's near impossible to go back past a dropped stitch row! i forgot a y.o. and didn't realise until after i had dropped... in the end i had to fudge it to make an extra stitch where i needed it. not great but hopefully the edge will curl and it won't be too visible. Has anybody else had that problem? Has anybody managed to fix a mistake further back?

I also made this hat from the last minute 'purled' beret pattern, using rialto aran, and 5.5mm needles. I had to photoshop my face as i'm a little camera shy, also my husband says the hat 'dwarfs' my head (I do realise it's hard to tell with my thorough photoshopping job! I still like it, kind of. If I was to make it again I'd use a fluffyer yarn and knit it with thicker wool or thinner needles to make it less floppy. It was really quick and easy to make!
Has anyone got suggestions for hat patterns or styles that don't 'dwarf' a long narrow face?


I knit on the train the other day, I felt a bit self conscious, but I just kept my head down. I haven't seen anybody knit on the train, in the two and a half years that i've been taking it, or on the bus for that matter, and i've been taking buses here for the last 6 years. Is it different in the US, or UK? I find in Ireland there isn't as much of a culture of younger people (i.e. below pension age) making things. At home it was part of the secondary school curriculum so by the time you left school you had a lot of basic skills. And most of the girls I knew were doing something with their hands after school/uni/work, home decorations, fixing up furniture, knitting or sewing, gardening... here it seems to be highly unusual in my age group! Even the older generation, like my husband's mum, don't do much knitting or sewing! What's it like where you're living?

4 comments:

  1. Thanks for visiting my blog- and the offer of help with the heel of my sock! You're right, it went okay, I'm having some trouble with grafting the toe now!

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  2. Love the hat!! I can understand the 'dwarfs' dilemma, I have a very small head.
    I live in the southern part of the US and knitting is slowly catching on with the younger generation here but when I start talking to others I pleasently surprised that they do some sort of crafting. Keep on knitting on the train, hopefully others will follow suit :)

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  3. your scarf and hat are lovely! i've been wanting to try the clapotis pattern for ages. it's very elegant in white!
    and i'm very pleased to see your beret- it looks great- and i'm relieved because i have a big head (ha) and was worried it might be too tight on me.
    keep being brave with your knitting in public!

    - www.tinyhappy.typepad.com

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  4. your scarf and hat are lovely! i've been wanting to try the clapotis pattern for ages. it's very elegant in white!
    and i'm very pleased to see your beret- it looks great- and i'm relieved because i have a big head (ha) and was worried it might be too tight on me.
    keep being brave with your knitting in public!

    - www.tinyhappy.typepad.com

    ReplyDelete