Friday, July 11, 2008

The Montego Bay Scarf

I'm thinking that maybe I'll start labeling everything starting with "the" like the Hammacher Schlemmer catalog. Just for kicks. Not to worry, I doubt it'll last long. I mentioned in my last post that I had in fact been knitting, if not writing about it, and here is some of the evidence, the Montego Bay Scarf, which was a gift for my cousin Danielle:Montego Bay scarf

Project Stats: Montego Bay Scarf
Pattern: Montego Bay, by Amy Singer, from Interweave Knits Summer 2007.
Yarn: Knit One Crochet Too Ambrosia, colorway Blue Lime, 3 skeins. Yarn purchased at Weaving Works.Montego Bay, zoom
Needles: Size 7 Clover bamboo straights.
Modifications: None, although my scarf is shorter than the pattern version.
Time on the needles: May 11-June 11, 2008.Montego Bay scarf, on me
Impressions: This was a fun, quick knit. The pattern is deceptive - it's really simple, almost too simple, which is the trouble. The whole thing is k2tog, yo, repeat, with different numbers of plain stitches on the ends, which is all you have to keep track of (I did not want to end this sentence with of, but I couldn't figure out a better way that wasn't really clunky. This is not English class.). There in lies the problem, trying to recall which right side row you're on. I solved this by always knitting in groups of four rows, so that whenever I picked the scarf up I was starting row one. It was a good strategy. The yarn was great - it's baby alpaca, silk, and cashmere, and it feels about as good as it sounds. It's not quite as drapey as the recommended yarn, but I think it worked okay, especially after a good blocking. I was intending to use a more "summery" yarn, but I loved the colors of this and thought it would be perfect for Danielle, so I went with it. It was a bit success, she absolutely loved it and the colors were perfect for her. I have some yarn lined up to make one of these for myself, but we'll see when I actually get around to that!

Last night I finished an adorable baby project that I can blog about after it's gifted tomorrow. I love the baby knits - they go fast and they're cute because they're tiny!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Emily, You should send Danielle your blog link.
"of which you must keep track" or "that you must track." love, mom

Anonymous said...

which is all you have to track....thought I would offer an aternative to your dangling participle dilemna. Loved the scarf. It looks great. It might actually motivate me to pick up knitting again. I quit last summer when I had surgery on my middle finger of my right hand and it was slow getting it to move again. Now my pointer finger on my left hand has been a problem. I can barely move it at all. But this gives me inspiration to knit despite any obstacles!

Anonymous said...

A suggestion to keep track of which side you are on: note which side your cast on end is when you are starting the k2tog, yo row. Then remembering if it is on the right or left as the place to work that row.

I have not knit this yet (being on a probably fruitless search for the IWK Summer '07 magazine) but I had that instruction for a different pattern and it worked wonderfully.

Janey
janeyknitting@yahoo.ca