Red Herring Scarf

January 2nd, 2007 | View Comments

Pattern: My own, download it for free here!
Yarn: Rowan Cashsoft DK, #521, 4 skeins
Needles: Addi Turbos, US6 (4mm)

I really, really, really like the finished scarf. The pattern has the slightest bit of texture to it, and it produces an pseudo-illusion effect when you look at it from different angles. At some angles the pattern shows up as a zigzag; at some angles you see vertical stripes. The effect is subtle, elegant, and looks good dressed-up or dressed-down.

My one complaint is the amount of curl in the finished scarf; the moss-stitch border didn’t do as much as I hoped it would to stop that from happening—seed stitch might have been a better choice.

The current line of Rowan Cashsoft DK is 40% microfibre (it used to be 30%), which lends a nice sheen and more durability to the finished fabric—it is both machine-washable and ironable—but makes it that much harder to block the curl out of it.

Regular ol’ wet-blocking with pins and towels wasn’t enough, so I did something that would make many knitters gasp and took an iron to it on medium-high heat (oh, me and my abuse of good yarn). It took a bit of the loft out of the yarn, but otherwise nothing bad happened, and it did a better job of beating it into submission, although there is still a tendency to curl that increases with wear.

Did I mention that I really, really like the pattern? I may have to make another one at some point. But not right now, I have big knitting plans! More on that later…

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