Feb 20th, 2009
Making waves
Last June I received a wonderful, yarn-filled package from Karen at Yarn Is My Métier. Almost immediately I cast on for Karen’s Mia Shrug (there’s a pattern link on the front page of her blog), using the Jaegar Shetland Aran. It is a lovely pattern (clear instructions! fun to knit!), and the completed shrug was sent—before I remembered to photograph it, alas—to my friend Valérye in Australia.
What to do with the Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran, though? This is really luscious yarn—the sort of thing I wanted to use for something that would be used for a very long time. About a month ago, I realized that in nearly five years of knitting I had yet to knit a scarf for myself. (Gasp!) I couldn’t believe it. So I started looking at scarf patterns. Plain stockinette or garter stitch were out (too boring), as were cables (ate up too much yarn).
And then I remember Wavy, from Knitty’s winter 2004 issue. I’d actually knit this scarf once before as a gift for a friend and had really enjoyed the pattern.* The result is slightly funky, not full of holes (lace scarves are not my thing), and easily dressed up or down.
I loved knitting this scarf again. It’s just long enough for a once-around-the-neck wrap with short tails hanging down—which is fine with me, because there’s no sense in using a lot of super-nice stuff like this for knitting that doesn’t actually touch your skin. The shifting rib pattern gives the whole thing some curves that keep it interesting both to knit and to wear. I may just make another one of these soon…
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*I did most of the knitting during the four hours I had to sit in a Quest diagnostics lab office while doing a glucose tolerance test for gestational diabetes. I’d flunked the “quickie” test my midwife gave me at the birth center, so I had to spend half a day drinking a sickly sweet orange solution, waiting an hour, getting my blood drawn, then repeating the whole sequence a few more times. This knitting project and an audiobook kept me from going nuts in the waiting room. And I passed the test with flying colors, fortunately!
5 Responses to “Making waves”
Lovely scarf! Silkroad Aran’s a great yarn.
That scarf is beautiful.
Also, excellent photograph of said scarf.
I really enjoy my own Wavy. I frogged my first scarf and used the yarn for Wavy. (The scarf, unsurprisingly, didn’t turn out too great and I felt the yarn was too pricey to let it languish in an unwearable scarf.)
I’ve done that blood test too–so unpleasant.
@Chris: It is indeed a very great yarn. I would love to make an entire sweater out of this stuff. That would require taking out a second mortgage, but hey, it would be worth it, right?
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@Shannah: Thank you!
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@Jen: I’m with you on that point: no point wasting good yarn on something that won’t be used!
This scarf is lovely! I have 2 projects on needles now. A scarf for Brad and a cowl for me.