Friday
Feb132009
A scarf of the Irish persuasion.
Friday, February 13, 2009 at 5:03AM
My husband complained all winter about not having a scarf. "It's so cold out," he said. "Why don't you ever knit me anything," he said. "You knit yourself warm scarves but you never make me one."
"Will you actually wear what I make?" I asked. "I want my creation to be loved and not stored on a shelf somewhere."
Several years ago, I bought my husband a lovely dress coat. It fit him perfectly. It was dressy, but not too dressy. It was warm. It was just the ticket for wearing to work. He's worn it twice, and only because Imade asked him nicely to. This, after saying, "It's so cold out." "Why don't I have a dress coat?" "You have a dress coat, but you never buy me one."
So you can understand my hesitation. I did not want the scarf to go the way of the dress coat.
"I will wear it if it's not all girly and ruffly and bright pink and purple," he promised.
I brought home four samples from the shop. One was a light dove grey. One was a rich chestnut brown. One was a dark brown kettle dyed yarn with slight variation. And the final selection was a dark gray/black/purple kettle dyed yarn with some variation. (If you're new to knitting, see my explanation of kettle dyeing at the end.)
He chose the last option, saying that it would go best with all of his coats, including the black dress coat I bought him that he swears he's going to begin wearing at any second.
Since he specifically requested no ruffles, I selected a pattern that would give me something to do other than knit and purl ad infinitum. But the project couldn't be too complicated, because I needed to be able to knit it in the car.
Here's my in-progress Irish Hiking Scarf. Perfect because my husband is both Irish and likes to hike. I'm almost done with the first ball of yarn, and am getting ready to join the second. Just in time for the warm weather, and just in time to see my scarf sit on the shelf for the next 10 months.
I knit this entirely in the car while stopped at stoplights. DC has horrible traffic, what can I tell you?
Project specs:
Pattern: Hello Yarn's Irish Hiking Scarf
Yarn: Yarn Love's Charlotte Bronte Organic Worsted
Colorway: Bella
Needle size: US 8
Quantity: Two skeins
*An explanation of kettle dyeing: this is a technique where the artist creates random color variation throughout the skein by putting the yarn in a receptacle of some kind (a kettle/pot/what have you), applying dyes and heating the yarn and dye mixture. This allows the colors to swirl around, mixing together, and randomly creating small patches of color. Some knitters prefer using yarns dyed with this method because it creates a lovely watercolor effect when knitting, rather than repeating patterns of color.
"Will you actually wear what I make?" I asked. "I want my creation to be loved and not stored on a shelf somewhere."
Several years ago, I bought my husband a lovely dress coat. It fit him perfectly. It was dressy, but not too dressy. It was warm. It was just the ticket for wearing to work. He's worn it twice, and only because I
So you can understand my hesitation. I did not want the scarf to go the way of the dress coat.
"I will wear it if it's not all girly and ruffly and bright pink and purple," he promised.
I brought home four samples from the shop. One was a light dove grey. One was a rich chestnut brown. One was a dark brown kettle dyed yarn with slight variation. And the final selection was a dark gray/black/purple kettle dyed yarn with some variation. (If you're new to knitting, see my explanation of kettle dyeing at the end.)
He chose the last option, saying that it would go best with all of his coats, including the black dress coat I bought him that he swears he's going to begin wearing at any second.
Since he specifically requested no ruffles, I selected a pattern that would give me something to do other than knit and purl ad infinitum. But the project couldn't be too complicated, because I needed to be able to knit it in the car.
Here's my in-progress Irish Hiking Scarf. Perfect because my husband is both Irish and likes to hike. I'm almost done with the first ball of yarn, and am getting ready to join the second. Just in time for the warm weather, and just in time to see my scarf sit on the shelf for the next 10 months.
I knit this entirely in the car while stopped at stoplights. DC has horrible traffic, what can I tell you?
Project specs:
Pattern: Hello Yarn's Irish Hiking Scarf
Yarn: Yarn Love's Charlotte Bronte Organic Worsted
Colorway: Bella
Needle size: US 8
Quantity: Two skeins
*An explanation of kettle dyeing: this is a technique where the artist creates random color variation throughout the skein by putting the yarn in a receptacle of some kind (a kettle/pot/what have you), applying dyes and heating the yarn and dye mixture. This allows the colors to swirl around, mixing together, and randomly creating small patches of color. Some knitters prefer using yarns dyed with this method because it creates a lovely watercolor effect when knitting, rather than repeating patterns of color.
Reader Comments (12)
That is beautiful! He will look great wearing it. If he doesn't wear that, make your next knitting-while-driving project a Scottish Icefishing Scarf for Dad. Must be able to camouflage accidental winter facial secretions, and beard dandruff. But he would wear it for sure...
That's very pretty Sharon!
Do you really knit while driving - at the stoplights, but while you are the driver?! I've always wanted to do that but I haven't the chuztpah.
Yes, I actually knit at the stoplights when I'm in the driver's seat. :) The lights around here are ridiculously long, and there are so many of them. One stoplight might be 90-120 seconds. When I have to drive 15 miles round trip, I might get stopped at 10 different lights. That's an extra 20 mn of knitting a day! :)
Ah, yes, DC traffic. A legend in it's own time. You could knit a sweater or two soon enough.
Looks very nice. I love that pattern. Love kettle dying as well. Lots of loving things in this entry, and I read it almost on Valentine's Day. :-))
Lovely, Sharon! I hope he wears it ;)
Beautiful scarf! I think I need to learn how to do cables!
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