Wednesday, July 02, 2008

Knitting Sighted

What? Is that knitting I see?

Yes, this is a knitted scarf I finished upon returning from Tampa. It is basically knitted I-cords which were woven into a scarf. Yes, indeed I do remember how to knit and yes, I did knit in public. I knitted it while on the various airplanes or in various airports over the last several weeks.

I must admit I forgot how to cast off so I used safety pins. When I got to the last leg of my trip I had nothing else to do but play around dropping stitches in different ways until I finally remembered how to cast off. Happily, I had all the I-cords completely finished by the time I landed at LAX.



The idea for this scarf came from Knitting New Scarves, 27 distinctly modern designs by Lynne Barr. I like the book since each scarf is really different not due to color nor yarn but due to its shape or structure.



The warp is simply five I-cords knitted in some silk I found in my stash. The weft is also a knitted silk I-cord but knitted with smaller needles. I originally knitted the weft in an off white silk with number 3 needles. When I wove up the weft and warp, it had to be the ugliest thing I have seen in quite awhile. Even my DH thought it was 'not good'.



My roommate at Convergence said she just bought a little gadget at Joann's which made I-cords by turning a little crank. Sounded intriguing so I bought one. I then proceeded to make yards and yards of I-cord from some thinner purple silk I had dyed for a previous project. Once woven with the original warp - I took the picture above.



Far better than the first attempt and better than the one illustrated in the book. I'd really like something a bit thinner so I could wear it more in California. I have a lot of perle cotton in my stash. I may try that next if [when?] the weaving of my two tapestries gets too frustrating.

1 comment:

Peg in South Carolina said...

Absolutely ingenious. But I would expect no less from you!