Thank you to those who've commented and emailed and claimed the orphan yarn from my previous post. Special thanks to my sister Cindi for taking the last of it. For the adoptive mothers, I promise your yarn will be in the mail within the next 7 days.
So, before I can purchase yarn, I have to decide on a pattern. I don't want to reveal too much about my pal because I'm oh so very keen on the secretive part of the exchange but I will tell ya'll these bits:
1) She lives in a cold climate. This is joyful news for a California knitter who has been looking for a good excuse to knit a scarf for actual use and not just decoration.
2) I greatly fear that she is a much more talented knitter than I. Furthermore, she has exquisite taste (from what I can observe over at her home on the www) and is a very discerning consumer. Oh the pressure.
3) She likes teal and blue and red and rich colors and warm colors. She also likes natural fibers and dislikes the acrylic, the nylon, the Fun Fur. I agree with her on all those points.
I think this is enough for you to help me a little bit.
It had occurred to me to knit something fancy and schmancy and lacy and fussy but I've ruminated on it a bit and I've decided. . .I don't want to. I want to knit something comforting and cozy and practical. I want to use nice yarn - not expensive pretentious fussy yarn - just high quality, soft, great yarn. I want to knit the scarf equivalent of homemade vegetable beef soup with a perfectly yummy, crisp on the outside hot and melty on the inside grilled cheese sandwich.
So, I've narrowed it down to these two recipes. (And yes sirree Bob, they are both from the Little Boxes of Scarves.)
Blueberry Scarf
Farrow Rib Scarf
Both patterns are fairly easy knits...straightforward, tidy. The Blueberry calls for Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran. I do not like this yarn. The Farrow Rib calls for Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride worsted. I do like this yarn, however, I'm not sure I love it for a scarf. Personally, I don't like any scratchiness against my face/neck.
So I am contemplating these yarns instead. They are roughly the same gauge...close enough at least. Ya'll know...I am a lover of the cotton, so of course, these are cottons and cotton blends. What I'm thinking about and what I want ya'll to think about and tell me your thoughts:
1) Will these yarns be soft and snuggly but still make the wearer feel happy and special?
2) Will these yarns do justice to the patterns? Will they hold up and showcase the stitches in a way that makes you want to look at it and touch it and treasure it?
These colors are just for thinking purposes. I obviously haven't made any color decisions so feel free to toss in your 2 cents on the colors, too. The contenders:
Pima Cotton Silk by Misti Alpaca
Four Seasons Cotton by Classic Elite
In case anyone cares, I am kind of partial to the first two. And maybe I'm even leaning toward the Pima Cotton Silk, in this Mediterranean Blue. I think it would show the pattern well. But that's why I'm talking to ya'll now...cause I need help.
11 comments:
my vote would be for the pima cotton with the blueberry pattern...I have these patterns and never thought of looking thru the box...maybe I'll take a look at the blueberry pattern for my SP.
Farrow rib, with the cotton silk (in the blue, even). I like the fact that it's a blend, and the blueberries... while cute.. just not doing it for me. Maybe it's the idea of scarves named after fruit. I dunno.
The falling leaf pattern might be cool too, if farrow doesn't work out.
Silk is pretty warm for cold climate scarves. Cotton is nice, pretty and smooth, but when the cold hits and the winds turn bitter, cottons get worn for decoration and dressing up. They just don't retain heat or absorb moisture as well as animal fibres.
I too am excited about this exchange and I love to watch the progress of the people involved. Good luck! This is my first exchange so I too am trying to narrow things down so that I have just the right scarf.
I haven't used it myself, but I have heard the Pima Cotton Silk makes an excellent scarf, and that's from someone who lives up here in the frozen north!
I'm still messing around with patterns for my ISE pal. I've frogged several times, and keep coming back to the mistake rib. Maybe I should leave it at that, eh?
I like the blueberry one, it looks warmer to me...
Oh by the way, grilled cheese should go with tomato soup not vegtable beef... ;)
Kristy - I've been ripping and knitting because I've been trying out different stitch patterns. I felt like the mistake rib was perhaps too "simple" for an exchange, and wanted to do something really nice for my pal. However, the yarn really wants to be a mistake rib scarf, so that is what I'm making! :0)
Yes, you did make me laugh! Thanks for the giggle :0)
I think the Silk would help hold the heat really well. It's just the 100% cotton that wouldn't hold the heat as well.
Both of those patterns are nice. Lots of texture and interest. I tend to go for the more simple, so if I were to make one of those for myself, it would be the Farrow Rib Scarf, but that's just my preference.
Wouldn't I laugh like a maniacal fool if you had me for a pal!
I love the second scarf pattern! And I would say go for richer colors if she likes teal and deep, saturated tones.
For the really soft and lovely yarns, I love to hit knitpicks.com. So far my really fave is Panache: http://www.knitpicks.com/yarns/itemid_5420137/yarn_display
It comes in a rich blue, a deep red and a nice olivy-green. Sooo soft!
Thank you for blogging for us, it's always fun to see what you are working on!
That pima cotton silk looks gorgeous. I would probably go with that one. And the rib scarf is my favorite of the two scarves but that may be because of the colours the examples are knit in. Good luck with it.
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