After writing my ‘What Next?‘ post, I almost immediately leapt in to choosing colours for another Topographical Scarf (Ravelry link) by MarinJa Knits (Designer’s site).
I’ve made three of them already – two as gifts and one for myself, which was promptly lost (or stolen by scarf goblins?) – and enjoyed the pattern. I have photos of precisely none of these three versions so this is a nice opportunity to make something I know I’ll enjoy without feeling I’m repeating content.
I don’t love that I’m a person who just used the word ‘content’ in cold blood. But that’s where we are. It’s more interesting for me and, I assume, for anyone reading if there’s something new on the go!
I put together this palette from stash, including one of my new, gifted yarns. The pattern alternates two rows of garter in one colour (in my case, the dark green) with stripes of other colours, using short rows to make some pleasing curved shapes that flow into each other.
The wavy stripes (not technical terminology) make a symmetrical pattern across the width of the scarf, and I’ll keep my colours symmetrical too. There are ten of these stripes in total and I’m going to repeat the nice variegated yarn, alternating it with the other colours.
The dark green is very old, and not really up to the standard of the others, particularly with regard to softness. It’s a Robin DK if I remember correctly – I bought seven skeins of it way back when I was starting to knit, hoping to make a sweater but having no idea of quantities. Did I think that people just guessed?! So funny to look back at that time.
The bright green is left over from my Peacock Blanket, and is a different weight to the others – but I don’t mind a bit of texture in my scarf, plus it’s super soft. The mid-green and the blueish grey – no idea where they’re from. They’re just *there*, possibly by magic? Yarn elves? It’s hard to say.
Now, unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your point of view), I found a significant mistake while i was taking photos. It’s good that I noticed it before I went any further – and I have to say that for whatever reason I had awful trouble getting this stripe correct, so it’s not a shock to me that there’s something up. See how the two curves on the left are stacked on top of each other? They should be overlapping instead – as they are on the right. Bah.
I unravelled back to before the offending curve, and picked back up onto a longer circular needle. Being able to see the pattern more clearly will help me keep track better anyway. I was back to where I’d started – row unraveled and re-knit, with stitch markers all replaced – in the length of time it took to watch Seven Psychopaths (IMDB link). I hadn’t seen this film for years and was just as delighted with it as I was the first time round. Not actually the best choice for knitting, as it bears paying attention to, but I managed.
My top tip (and resolution going forward) for this pattern is this: when it says ‘knit 60’ or whatever, don’t rely on being able to read your knitting to see how many you’ve done. There are several stops and starts throughout each row and I find it very easy to get lost or count from the wrong wrap and turn. So my solution is to mark the end point before starting – usually by attaching a second stitch marker through the first.
You gotta know where you’re going before you can get there, you know?
I’ve added this post to the Unraveled Wednesday linkup, with thanks to Kat for hosting.
The Crafty Yarnster 