Pattern: Kinetic by Norah Gaughan (on ravelry)
Yarn: Malabrigo merino worsted in Azul Profundo

Poor Rob’s only scarf is my very first knitting project – a two-by-two rib scarf that looks like it’s been around the block. I decided that I needed to remedy this and was on the search for the perfect manscarf. Enter Kinetic, the perfect manscarf!

I really enjoyed knitting this pattern. Large charts don’t frighten me, especially easy knit-purl ones. I used highlighter tape to keep track of my place which worked out perfectly. The pattern as written is more of a shawl, but I only worked the 36 stitch repeat section (plus two garter stitches on each side).

The best thing about the pattern? The wrong side looks pretty damn nice, too. The photo of me wearing the scarf shows both sides – wrong side on the left, right side on the right.

Pattern: Mistake Rib, baby! (on ravelry)
Yarn: Bertagna Filati Perla (the blue), Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran

The bonus is a simple mistake rib scarf for me that I knit over the summer but it never saw any blog time. I’ve been wanting a striped, mistake rib scarf ever since I made the red one a couple of years ago. I did a big stash reorganization (big because my stash! it is too large) and found the perfect yarns for this scarf.

The yarns are similar in weight but couldn’t be more different. The Italian yarn is a highly cabled yarn with a lot of sheen, while the Jo Sharp is a smooshy two ply that’s quite matte. I think that they make an interesting pair, although if anyone else notices then they’re probably standing entirely too close to me!

The scarf is a bit on the short side because each ball of yarn was less than 100 yards (I had two balls of each). Whatever, it’s still pretty and it just happens to match my Target Wave mittens. I am nothing if not predictable, apparently!

If you’re a female in our family that’s receiving a gift from me, there’s a good chance that you’re getting a scarf!

Pattern: Multidirectional Diagonal Scarf
Yarn: Colinette Giotto, color Castagna

When we were in London last year, I actively sought out places to buy Colinette yarn, since the price is right when you’re not importing it into the US. My mother is allergic to wool, so I chose to buy some Giotto to make her a scarf. It’s a cotton ribbon yarn that’s half shiny, half matte. The shiny strands are unwoven, they run parallel between the edges of matte binder.

I swatched the yarn last year and have been trying to destash it ever since! I’ve come to realize that I despise working with ribbon yarns because the twistiness drives me crazy. Also, it’s entirely too easy to pierce the unwoven center of this yarn. I was determined to get this yarn out of my stash, and I now know to stay far, far away from this stuff in the future.

I found the pattern via Ravelry, and I think it works well with the yarn. One down!

Pattern: Cream of Spinach Scarf
Yarn: Brooks Farm Riata

We saw Rob’s Aunt last year and sort of dropped the ball, gift-wise, so I thought I’d make her a scarf this year. Again, I found the pattern via the Rav, and I’m really happy with the result. The scarf has tons of drape, and the one-row pattern meant that this scarf was finished in a matter of days. Riata comes in some huge whopping skeins (375 yards), and I had plenty leftover from this generously-sized scarf.

I won two skeins of this yarn last year at Kid and Ewe (a wee little fiber festival in Boerne, TX), and this is the first one that I’ve knit up. It’s gorgeous stuff, each of its three plies has a different fiber composition – fuzzy mohair, matte wool, and shiny wool/silk. I kept staring at the yarn as I was knitting it, marveling at the contrast of textures. Those Brooks Farm people really know how to make a yarn.

Pattern: My So-Called Scarf
Yarn: Brooks Farm Four Play

My family exchanges names for gift-giving for Christmas, and I pulled my aunt’s name. I figured that I should really make her a scarf since I’m making Rob’s aunt one, hence scarf #3.

Speaking of lovely Brooks Farm Yarn, I would definitely qualify Four Play as one of my desert-island yarns. It was incredible to work with, so so soft and shiny. Good stuff, there. Everyone and their mother has made one of these So-Called scarves, and it’s a great pattern. The best part is that it lies perfectly flat, no pins, sweat, or tears needed. I’m especially pleased that I knit the entire scarf with one skein of the Four Play (270 yards) – it’s on the skinny size (5″ wide), but will be perfect for my aunt.

This is the last of the holiday knits, whew. I’m working on one more item, but I realized that the colorwork hat on size 2 needles (with a full lining) is so not getting done anytime soon. It also turns out that our holiday deadline is extended a bit – we’re staying here this year, thanks to Rob and his whack back. He’s having a wee bit of outpatient surgery tomorrow, so it will be a very balmy holiday for us!

Houston has been absolutely dreary these past couple of days. Rain as far as the eye can see. In the summer, it will rain like hell for about an hour, then Mr. Sun will show up and dry up those puddles. Not so this time of year – it’s been cloudy for days, cool and wet.

I suppose this is my way of saying that these photos aren’t terribly color accurate. Red is difficult enough to photograph, but add in the absolute lack of sunlight over the past few days, and it’s even worse. The scarf is a true red, with warm reddish-brown stripes.

Pattern: Mistake Rib. Cast on a multiple of 4 + 3, then do a 2×2 rib, starting with k2 every row.
Yarn: A mishmash of stuff in the stash – Lamb’s Pride Bulky (from a cone, color unknown) and Worsted (Medieval Red), and some Knitpicks Merino Style (Hollyberry).

The scarf is for the Red Scarf Project. I’ll knit for orphan college students, but not for homeless people in cold climates around the world, go figure. I also happened to have a bunch of red yarns in the stash, and a desire to work on anything but the Asymmetrical Cardigan (I’m also getting pretty close to having Sarcelle complete, yeah!).

My scarf is clearly an ode to the Manscarf – you can imagine what a bunch of mostly female knitters come up with when given red as the color to work with (sorry ladies, but purple is most certainly not red). I got the brownish yarn in The Great Yarn Swap of ‘06 – it was on a cone, and I didn’t realize that it was bulky weight until I started knitting it up. To match the weight of the brown, I double-stranded the Lamb’s Pride Worsted and Merino Style. The knitting went super quickly on 10.5 needles, I finished most of the scarf over the weekend.

Why didn’t anyone ever tell me how wonderful Mistake Rib is? So smooshy and comfy! I see more Mistake Rib scarves in my future – I feel like I have a ton of scarf-amounts (400 yards-ish) of yarn in my stash, and I need to start knitting some of it up!