Recent Knitting is All Blue

I have three finished knitting projects, and look! they are all blue.

Number One:  A pair of sockweight lace gauntlets. These were a Downton Abbey Mystery Knit-a-Long. The idea was that we got a piece of the pattern each week, to knit as we watched the latest installment of Downton Abbey. These were  finished back in February. Yarn: Knit-Picks Stroll fingering weight.

Number Two:  This wavy hat is knit  in a fan lace pattern.

Yarn is Madeleine Tosh Merino DK, Color Mica.  Pattern is the cover pattern from Weekend Hats, by Cecily Glowik MacDonald and Melissa LaBarre.

While it appears that it is knitted from side to side, it is actually a fancy twisted rib. 20 stitch x 18 row pattern.

Number Three: The Dragon Wing Shawl This is a nice circular shawl in a pretty pattern. (You can have your very own - they are on sale at YarnSmith Knitting Patterns.  Yarn:  JoJoland Melody. The photos are not color exact, but it's a nice mottled denim color.

The top section is knit back and forth, increasing in an arc to keep it round, then there is what seemed like an unending border knit around the bottom 32 sts x 12 rows. Actually, the edging is interesting - it is a combination of three patterns.

Linen Stitch Scarf

Another Scarf FINISHED!!

There is a scarf pattern that is everyone's favorite at Saint Mary's College this year. I took a look at the pattern, and it is simply a linen stitch, knitted lengthwise. Knit with sock yarn. I looked up the linen stitch and reproduced the scarf.  This one is made with three different variegated colors of Deborah Norville's Serenity sock weight yarn. This is a Michael's yarn. Everyone at work makes it out of Lorna's Laces, and the like. I chose to experiment with the inexpensive choice.

Linen Stitch 

Cast on an even number of stitches
Row 1:  *K1, bring yarn to front, slip 1 purlwise,* repeat between *'s until last stitch, K1
Row 2:  K1, *with yarn to back, slip 1 purlwise, p1 * repeat between *'s until last stitch, K1
Change to new ball of yarn. 

That's it! Two rows, change yarn, two rows, change yarn. Until the scarf is 4 or 5 inches wide. Because the yarn is variegated, the colors twinkle a little bit, and the knitted fabric looks woven.

Beware - this scarf began with Cast on 450. Even knitted on size 6 needles, every row took FOREVER. And because of all those slipped stitches, it actually took two rows to make the usual progress of one row. By the time my scarf was 4 inches wide, I couldn't stand working on it anymore and I happily bound off.