Saturday, October 16, 2010

An Obsession with Kerchiefs

Ask any knitter how many scarves she has, and she will probably tell you she lost count a couple of years ago.

But what else do you do when you buy only one skein of some really fantastic yarn except make a scarf?

Ah-ha! You make a kerchief.

It's not really a scarf... but it's not big enough to be called a shawl. They can be worn all sorts of ways , they make good use of color changes and textures. They knit up incredibly fast - cast on today, you'll be wearing it tomorrow. I'm sort of obsessed with kerchiefs right now.

This one is a skein of Noro Cash Island. The colorway made my heart go pitter-pat.

Self-striping yarn excites me in a way I can't describe. And cashmere self-striping yarn? Even better.



Pattern: Chastain Park Shawl by L Mariana
Needle: 11
Yarn: Noro Cashmere Island, colorway #10 (I think this yarn is discontinued. Which is a crying shame.)



And this kerchief was my sitting-in-the-car-for-eight-hours project from our recent trip to Denver. I purchased this skein of yarn at the same fantastic store in Morro Bay, CA where I got the Noro.
The pattern was rightly called "Impulse", based on the need for one-skein projects for knitters like myself who just have to buy a skein of a really great yarn, even though they have no idea what they'd do with it.

Pattern: Impulse by Amanda Muscha
Needles: size 8 long circs
Yarn: Auracania Patagonia Nature Cotton (a thick-and-thin spun cotton dyed in variegated shades of violet, blue, and green. Soft. Gorgeous.)
These are the third and fourth kerchiefs in my growing collection. I can promise you I won't stop here - these little things are just too much fun not to have at least a dozen. And that means I have a good excuse to buy more luxurious skeins of yarn.




2 comments:

Wendy said...

wow, I love love love that first one. I mean, aside from your amazing skill, that color combo is quite beautiful. It looks great on you too!

Sarah Adams said...

What a great idea to use up the little balls of yarn that FILL my yarn box!
I've ordered the second pattern.
Thanks for the spur back into knitting season.