Finished, and fabulous! This scarf is perfectly me—hippie-ish but also a little bit tweedy. It’s wild, but only when you really look at it up close. Otherwise, it seems kind of subdued, vaguely colorful, just interesting. It’s also another one of those stash-busters I love so much—what is it about a project that turns leftovers into something beautiful? It’s the best thing ever.
The pattern is easy—I found it here—and you can make it any length or width you want (or your scraps will allow.) Here’s a look at the stitches up close:
I have a huge pile of sock yarn leftovers. As in, for every stripe of color you see there, I have a pair of socks, and there’s always a little bit leftover, and you know you can’t just get rid of it, so into the cupboard it goes. It’s such pretty yarn, you never know…sometimes an excellent idea will come along. Like this one. Right, anyway. So, this is knit in linen stitch, which is basically knit one, slip one with the yarn in front, etc. Then on the back row you slip the knit stitch and purl the slipped stitch—only I realized a few rows in that if I added a new color on each row, I would only have to work the right side every time! (What?) I know, this is weird…okay, each row is a different color, and I used a different yarn. Normally, doing that means you have to weave in a whole bunch of ends and ugh, that’s a pain. But this scarf is worked end to end, the long way, so the ends just hang there, waiting to become the fringe (clever, right?) So after finishing each row, instead of turning it around and working the back side of the fabric, I just broke the yarn leaving a five or six inch tail, then pushed all the stitches back to the other end of the long needle and started at the beginning again. Right side row, every time. Once I figured that out, this thing was a breeze.
When I decided it was wide enough, I just bound off the (450 stitch!) last row and then tied the fringe, trimming it to about 3 1/2” , then steam-blocked it to straighten out the edges.
You can use any kind of leftovers you have—I think one done in colorful worsted-weight would be so spectacular. Might do that one next, stay tuned.
Love it. That will go with everything!
ReplyDeleteFREAK-OUT FaBuLoUs!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteThat scarf is SOOOOOOO you, Kristen. =D =D =D Does it drape well??
Absolutely gorgeous! I tried knitting twice but just couldn't get the hang of it. Crocheting it so much easier to me and I am still such a novice at it though I learned to crochet about 25 years ago. Just really started being able to read patterns when I started blogging. :) Hope your day is great. Tammy
ReplyDeletegosh what a truly beautiful scarf, the colours are divine
ReplyDeletelove jooles x
Oh wow, that is so gorgeous. Loving the tweedy look with splashs of colour. Will definitely have to look into doing something like this. I wonder whether I could try it with crochet. BTW, love the blog. x
ReplyDeleteOh I love it!!! It's so colorful but classic at the same time :)
ReplyDeleteBeautiful color choices. Sometimes scraps are just the best! I love that you didn't need to weave in yarn pieces, and you get nice little fringe bits on the ends. Bonus!
ReplyDeleteWish I could knit.
ReplyDeleteThis is right up my street.- love the colour changes.
Xx
I MUST learn to knit this year! That scarf is gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteSandra x
This is lovely! Something to be tried this year.
ReplyDeleteJust beautiful! I've been wanting to make one of these linen stitch scarves and seeing how beautiful your's turned out may just give me the umph to start! Have a nice day! Twyla
ReplyDeleteI love this scarf and really want to make one. What brand of sock yarn do you recommend? I don't have any leftovers since I haven't attempted socks yet! Thanks so very much!
ReplyDeleteI think the multi-colored yarns made an interesting effect for this project--any brand will do, as long as you like the colors and it isn't itchy against your neck. Most sock yarn will be nice and soft, so have fun choosing what you like. :)
DeleteDid you consciously put a row of dark yarn in between? Looks great! Amd i hate to purl. Super tip!
ReplyDeleteI did make an effort to alternate dark and light yarns, which is what gives that stripey/contrast effect. :)
DeleteI know this is an older post, but I just found it today...leaving all the ends as the fringe is quite genius. Gorgeous work!
ReplyDeleteWhat a brilliant idea, switching the color ever row! I am going to try one pretty soon!
ReplyDeleteabsolutely gorgeous!!
ReplyDeletedid you use long circular needles to cast on the 450 stitches?
ReplyDeleteYes, mine is a 48" circular needle. :)
DeleteThis is so gorgeous, I have one question: did you use even or odd cast on from the pattern?
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I really don't remember--looking back at my notes for this project, it looks like I might have cast on 450. In any event, I eventually realized I could just work Right Side rows every time by changing colors after each row. At the end of the row, I cut the yarn, leaving a long tail, then scootched all the stitches back to the beginning of the needle, and joined a new color. Easy. :)
DeleteI found this scarf after looking at hundreds in a Google image search because this is what I'm looking for. I want to buy it!
ReplyDeleteFollowing these instructions will not work, this explanation is much better, explaining how not to have the same stitches slipped but to alternate them. https://cherylmarieknits.wordpress.com/2012/03/25/tada/
ReplyDelete