bright

penny on January 5, 2011

E bought a new winter coat a few weeks ago. His last one disintegrated after several seasons of wear; upon his declaring it unfit for public wear and no longer warm, I pounced with scissors in hand to re-use the fabric for various projects. This season he had been making do with his trench coat and a very warm vest, but a train platform is quite chilly at 6:58am in December.

He wears his woven check scarf but has complained for years that it is not warm enough. As I wanted an excuse to expand my stash, I asked if he would like a new scarf to go with his new coat.

Yes. He listed some ideals for his new scarf and after I completed very painful and unpleasant research (it was really hard to narrow it down from the vast universe of potential yarns) I sent him links (what, you don’t email your spouse even when you’re both home? and in the same room?) to several vendors and yarn options.

He chose Madeline Tosh DK in Lapis. I showed him how to order two skeins and emailed him when it arrived a few days later… “It’s Very Bright. I hope it’s ok.”

When he came home that evening he laughed and said it was not as bright as I feared and lead him to believe. He had a go at the ball winder (with minimal supervision) and I poked around for patterns. I discovered a very wonderful List of Reversible Pattern Stitches in Barbara G. Walker’s Treasuries compiled by Mary Lee Herrick. Since I was gifted with A Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns, I want to use it at every and any opportunity. I think we chose well.

E's scarf, detailSeeded Rib Scarf
gift for E
Pattern: Seeded Rib Variation (page 7) from A Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns by Barbara G. Walker
Yarn: Madelinetosh DK in lapis, 1.4 skeins = 315.0 yards*
4mm needles
Started: 2010-12-21
Completed: 2010-12-31
Ravelry Project Page
Finished Size: approximately 6 inches wide by 68 inches in length.

Interesting to me and maybe to you notes:
I used a provisional cast on so I could bind off somewhat loosely and keep both ends mostly similar.

I alternated between two skeins (reference to * above) in order to try to keep the pooling and colour variation in the hand paint to a minimum. I did this more because E was surprised that they weren’t exactly the same and had a worried exclamation as he wound them, “they look very different!”. There is talk all over the interwebs about it. Just plug these terms, avoid pooling hand painted yarn, into your favourite search engine.

While knitting this project, I found that the colours became more muted for me and against the deep grey and cold of January I found it a delight to work with.

It blocked beautifully and E was very pleased to find the yarn softened considerably after a short Soak ™ and a few hours in the boiler room.

It’s been delightful to look upon E in his handknits on the train platform each morning this week (including his sweater, without my nagging asking!). It makes this knitters heart happy. Now I just need to finish his socks…

E's scarf, morning musings E's scarf, progress

Reader interactions

3 Replies to “bright”

  1. Devorah January 5, 2011 at 5:50 pm

    Nice job! Of course I email my spouse links when I’m mere inches away! Tho I have yet to use email to call the kids to dinner. A shout is still the easiest way to go. ;-)

  2. Dave Daniels January 5, 2011 at 7:33 pm

    GREAT and manly scarf. (Was this the “bright” yarn you’d told me about???)
    Have you done any riggid heddle scarves? Thsoe are fun and fast, too.
    And, always remember, you can overdye yarn if you don’t like the color. (And you know how I know that one!)
    Again, GREAT scarf. Oh, and we DO email each other, even while sitting at the same table!

  3. Beverly January 5, 2011 at 11:46 pm

    A handsome scarf!

    I email stuff to Neal, and he responds orally. Luddite.

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