A little knitting

Many moons ago, I used to knit cardigans and jumpers, for myself and my family. Big projects that took a lot of time and concentration. Nowadays I'm all about mindless knitting. Enter the scarf, the shawl and the cowl. Repetitive knitting that can be done in front of the TV, at soccer practice, any place where it is likely that one will be interrupted by a small child.

I'm already on to my third version of this scarf. It's an easy four-row repeat that is simple to remember - no chance of getting muddled up with where you are in the repeat. And just a little bit of a twist in the pattern to keep things interesting. Regardless of how mind-numbing you want your knitting to be, we don't need the endless monotony of acres of stocking stitch or 2x2 rib, do we?

I picked up this lovely squishy Blue Sky Alpaca/Silk yarn on my visit to Purl Soho in New York in January, and now have gifted the resulting scarf to my lovely aunt who recently celebrated a significant birthday.

I knitted this in fingering weight (4 ply), but the first version was lace weight (2 ply). Version 3 is also fingering weight. It gives a nice skinny, long scarf. Just the way I like them!

If you'd like to try making your own - here you go! The pattern came with the original skein of lace weight yarn, purchased by my Mum somewhere in deepest, darkest Canada. I'm afraid I've misplaced the info about the shop. If anyone recognises this stitch pattern please let me know so I can provide the credit!

Cast on a multiple of 4 + 2 stitches (I cast on 34 stitches). EDIT: I used 3.75mm needles to give a nice open gauge - but use whatever you feel comfortable with. It's a scarf, the gauge is not hugely important.

First row: K2, P2 - repeat to last 2 stitches, K2 (wrong side)

Second row: K2, *K1, yo, K1, P2 - repeat from * to last 2 stitches, K2

Third row: K2, P3 - repeat to last 2 stitches, K2

Fourth row: K2, *sl1, K2, psso over both stitches, P2 - repeat from * to last 2 stitches, K2

Repeat until it reaches your desired length (I think the rule of thumb for a scarf is knit it the length of your body!) Two skeins of Blue Sky Alpaca (total 100g) yielded the perfect scarf.

Basically, you're making an extra stitch in the second row, and an eyelet, and in the fourth row, getting rid of this extra stitch and in the process giving it a little cable effect. Clever!

Next up I'm planning on something a little more challenging - a lace-edge shawl, knitted up in Swans Island fingering weight from Suzy Hausfrau. I'm itching to get started on it! 

What knitting projects are on your sticks at the moment?