As eager as I am to start my rainbow shawl, I'm still weaving ends on the Wyndfael cowl and Ohio Star afghan, and I have a feeling once the shawl is on the needles, I won't want to work on anything else. So, I decided I needed to cast on something relatively small to work on between bouts of finishing. For some time, I've been longing for a red scarf to brighten my basic black wardrobe and offset the gray days of winter.
This delightful red yarn (Cash Silk by Zagna Baruffa) has been slumbering in the stash for close to two years, and now seemed like the perfect time to put it to use. I love my reversible Kintra Nearly Neutral so much, I decided to follow those working notes. (Be forewarned, these photos were grabbed on the fly, but bear with me, it's been one of those weeks. Colorwise, the first photo is most accurate.)
The recommended needle size is US 6, but I knew I wanted a drapier fabric so I swatched first with size US 7 for the first inch and US 8 for the remainder. Because I love the way this stitch looks when twisted, I worked all the knit stitches through the back loop (tbl).
Very quickly, I realized the fabric at this gauge was not as fluid and lofty as I wanted, so I cast on with larger needles (US 8 and 9), and started over again, working all the knit stitches through the front loop not the back.
You can't really see the difference in the photos, but the ribs are more rounded, the fabric is stretchier and significantly more flexible, and blocking will even out the stitches and maximize drape.
For now, this is my travel and pick-up-lay-down project for days when I have just enough time for a few quick rows. I've not decided how long I want this scarf to be, but I'm very fond of long skinny scarves that can be wrapped multiple times, so we shall see.
Meanwhile, as frustrating as it can be to start over once a project's on the needles, it's often the right thing to do. I'm certainly much happier with how things are progressing, which is why we swatch. Right? Right!
This delightful red yarn (Cash Silk by Zagna Baruffa) has been slumbering in the stash for close to two years, and now seemed like the perfect time to put it to use. I love my reversible Kintra Nearly Neutral so much, I decided to follow those working notes. (Be forewarned, these photos were grabbed on the fly, but bear with me, it's been one of those weeks. Colorwise, the first photo is most accurate.)
The recommended needle size is US 6, but I knew I wanted a drapier fabric so I swatched first with size US 7 for the first inch and US 8 for the remainder. Because I love the way this stitch looks when twisted, I worked all the knit stitches through the back loop (tbl).
Very quickly, I realized the fabric at this gauge was not as fluid and lofty as I wanted, so I cast on with larger needles (US 8 and 9), and started over again, working all the knit stitches through the front loop not the back.
You can't really see the difference in the photos, but the ribs are more rounded, the fabric is stretchier and significantly more flexible, and blocking will even out the stitches and maximize drape.
For now, this is my travel and pick-up-lay-down project for days when I have just enough time for a few quick rows. I've not decided how long I want this scarf to be, but I'm very fond of long skinny scarves that can be wrapped multiple times, so we shall see.
Meanwhile, as frustrating as it can be to start over once a project's on the needles, it's often the right thing to do. I'm certainly much happier with how things are progressing, which is why we swatch. Right? Right!
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-b