Monday, January 26, 2009

More purple ruffles

After making the 'Just enough ruffles' scarf for my Mum out of sock yarn, I decided I needed one for myself. I had one skein of some beautiful Mama Blue Troika sock yarn on hand, in the Urchin colourway, and wanted to see if I could make the scarf with just the one skein.


Last time I doubled the amount of stitches than the original pattern called for, to compensate for the skinnier sock yarn I used. Since I'd used about 1.5 skeins of sock yarn for that version, I was convinced that if I cast on just 50% more this time, that I'd be able to pull off the pattern with just the one skein. Alas no.

I toyed with pulling back and knitting fewer short rows than the pattern called for. And then thought better of it. My Mum's scarf looks so nice with the contrasting edging that I figured I'd do the same with mine.

I found some lovely grey mohair in my stash and knit with 2 strands of it for the last few rows of the ruffle edge, and to cast off. To balance out the grey ruffle edge, I added a couple of single crochet rows of the grey mohair to the cast on edge. Although I would have liked to have made this just out of the purple, I think the grey works well. An added bonus - it goes well with my new grey winter coat.


I think this is the most wonderful pattern -- a quick easy knit that results in a unique looking scarf that isn't too fussy. I see more versions on the horizon... and maybe I'll figure out that magic recipe for making it out of just one skein of sock yarn!

15 comments:

Kim said...

Great scarf. Good luck on your quest for one skein :)

I just love your dogs. They are so cute and lovely models as well.

Dany said...

wow!
I love the scarf and its color!
It's great pink and grey togheter!

And you dogs... wondeful!!!!!!

peaknits said...

Wow,the scarf is gorgeous!that mama blue is such a treat to work with!!

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous scarf Sam. Love the edging! Your dogs do look vaguely bemused with it though. :D

Susan Luni said...

Very nice! I'll be following your ruffle scarf adventures--I have some dk weight yarn I'm thinking of using for one.

I'll bet the dog was sorry when you took it off him, cold as it is.

Denise said...

Oooh your scarf came out beautiful, I love the color of it and the contrasting edge. Lovely!

Stacey said...

I love it Sam! You'll have to bring it along to the next knit night. I agree with Kim...your dogs are the perfect models!! They are just too cute!

Anonymous said...

Lovely ruffles and colour.

glad to learn that sock yarn is multipurpose. maybe the few balls I have could make something that's not socks!

Bea said...

Its really cute. I love both of your versions. This one especially.

Anonymous said...

Great scarf. Beautiful photos!

Anonymous said...

Great scarf. Beautiful photos!

Anonymous said...

I love how it turned out........so lovely! :) It will look great on you! :)

Oiyi said...

It's gorgeous. i need to make one for myself.

WandaWoman said...

The scarf turned out so nicely with two colors. Way to go! And I love that you have your dog modeling it, that's so stinkin' cute!

Anonymous said...

Half a ball is one third of how much you used the first time. So if you had cast on 1/3 more stitches you should have been okay. If you cast on just 25% more you definitely would have had enough yarn.

A knitting engineer :)