Therapeutic Scarf

The scarf I am knitting for myself is call the Therapeutic Scarf by brigitte17 from Ravelry. It seems to be named after the yarn from SWTC called Therapi. The design is meant to look like lace, but has a simple four row repeat meaning it is very quick to work up. I started it on Monday evening and have not been knitting much this week and should be able to finish knitting it tonight.

The yarn was one of the very few skeins purchased during my yarn diet this summer. I spent a fair amount of time in StevenB´s (in Minneapolis) discount floor this summer and found what I thought was the perfect colour combinations to match my winter weight rain coat for Vancouver. And this single skein was deeply discounted from $15.50 to about $4. Here is my coat and the mostly completed scarf together. You can decide how well I did matching the two.

The look is even better than I expected it to be.

The yarn is a worsted weight, hand painted, merino wool from Punta Yarns out of Uruguay. The skein contains approximately 197 yards. At the time of purchase I suspected if I picked a thin scarf the yardage would be enough to create the right length. In the more moderate temperatures here in the winter one generally does not want a large or heavy hunk of wool around the neck. My hope was there would be enough length to have the scarf meet in the center to keep me warm. Additionally, I wanted an open lacy-like pattern so it would be light weight. Even though variegated yarn doesn´t best show off intricate designs, I was interested in the texture the design created. Here´s a closer look.

There is a design there, just hard to see with the dark background.

One last note about this yarn. It seems as if it has been felted after it was spun because it is very hard to see the number of strands put together to get the worsted weight. Perhaps the hand painting had something to do with this. Felted or not I think it is a very soft yarn.

The Punta Yarn closeup.

All in all I am pleased with the results and will have this scarf done in time for Xmas, for myself. No therapy needed either.

Comments

Anatomy of a Sock

I've been knitting socks for a relatively short time. One of the disconcerting things for me as I started following patterns for socks is the pattern designer assumes the knitter (in this case that would be me) knows all the parts of a sock. So I thought I'd devote a post to improve my own knowledge about the anatomy of a sock and maybe some of you will learn something about the humble yet necessary sock as well. Here's the names of the parts of the foot as I know them. #49 ankle, #50 heel, #51, instep, #52 ball, #53 big toe, #54 toe, #55 little toe, #56 toenail. There are some parts more important for this discussion; first the heel of a foot is generally used to refer to the entire C-shape from the ankle to the instep. Speaking of the instep, it refers to that curve near the bottom of the foot. And what seems to be missing in the design above is the sole which generally refers to the bottom of the foot in total or plantar aspect in more technical terms...

Ode to the Cat

It has been six months since Mike, the cat's, passing. I think of him every day and miss him especially when Paul is away. Mike was a being in the house with me and we were close. Grieving his death has been muddled with my Dad's passing and sometimes I feel guilty about that happening. As time passes the ache becomes less hurtful for both and I am starting to get mostly good memories in its place. Recently I helped celebrate Pablo Neruda's birthday with Jami, my poet and overall very creative friend. Guests were asked to select one poem written by Neruda to read to the small group who gathered for the celebration. I picked this one: Ode To The Cat -- Pablo Neruda There was something wrong with the animals: their tails were too long, and they had unfortunate heads. Then they started coming together, little by little fitting together to make a landscape, developing birthmarks, grace, flight. But the cat, only the cat turned ou...

Knitting-Related Guinness World Records

I had to share some of the Guinness World Records connected with knitting. It is amazing to me the type of skill, stamina and unique characteristics these record holders have in common. How about trying to knit with these SPNs?? Ingrid Wagner and her large needles and knitted swatch The largest knitting needles measured 3.5 m (11 ft 5.8 in) long and had a diameter of 8 cm (3.15 in). Ingrid Wagner, a rug and art creation artist, from the UK used the needles to knit a tension square of ten stitches by ten rows at the Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, on March, 10 2008. (And I complained about getting certain SPNs stuck in my clothes.) See how this swatch was done with merely 5 people managing the needles. And what about the yarn? It is truly ex-bulky. It looks like they're knitting in a warehouse, but with a wingspan of almost 24 feet or 7 m, you'd need all that space. Or h...

Flagel Knitting Files

Search This Blog