Knitty: Fall 2007

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by Lee Meredith

When I finalized plans to move from Southern California to a colder part of the world, I knew I'd have to knit more scarves and mitts, considering I'm so often chilly here. Some daydreaming led me to this simple, effective design. While knitting it up, with not so much as an increase, decrease, or purl stitch in sight, I thought about what a great beginner-knitter project it would be. And that led me to think what a great beginner pattern it would make -- so I wrote my first pattern ever!

Combining a simple scarf with fingerless mitts, my favorite accessory (I hate confined fingers, and it's easy to curl fists inside to warm up), this project is just barely more complex than the most basic garter stitch scarf, but much more unique and interesting, both to knit and to wear. Knitting in garter stitch across length-wise creates so much stretch in the mitts that they will easily fit any sized hands (making this a great gift item!) and allows vertical striping opportunities not possible with most knit scarves.

Wearing this is fun and cozy, all wrapped up in wool. Just be careful not to get tangled with purse straps -- it's easy to do, trust me!

model: Lee Meredith photos: Pete Bejarano and Lee Meredith

SIZE

One

FINISHED MEASUREMENTS

Width: 3.5 inches
Glove circumference, unstretched: 5.5 inches
Length: 83 inches
Directions for adjusting length can be found in Pattern Notes

MATERIALS

Patons Classic Merino Wool [100% Wool; 223yd/204m per 100g skein]; color: #77011 Wedgewood; 1 skein

1 32-inch US #11/8mm circular needle

Stitch holder

Tapestry needle

GAUGE

13 sts/17 rows = 4 inches in stockinette stitch

PATTERN NOTES

[Knitty's list of standard abbreviations and techniques can be found here]

Your neck circumference and arm length may differ from that of the designer, and you might as well be comfortable! To lengthen or shorten the scarf, multiply the number of inches you wish to add or subtract by 3.25. Round to the nearest whole number, and add or subtract that number of stitches to the number you'll cast on.

When binding off the first set of stitches, add or subtract this number to the number you bind off.

PATTERN

Loosely CO 220 sts. Do not join; piece is worked back and forth in rows.

Work in garter st until work measures 3.5 inches.

Next Row: K24 and place these sts on st holder; BO 172 sts, k to end. 24 sts remain.

Continue in garter st until this 24-st section measures 5.5 inches.

BO all sts. Break yarn, leaving an 18-inch tail.

Replace held sts on needle and rejoin yarn at beginning of bound-off sts.

Work in garter st until this section measures 5.5 inches.

BO all sts. Break yarn, leaving an 18-inch tail.

FINISHING

Fold one 5.5-inch section lengthwise, so that CO edge meets BO edge.

Sew edges together, leaving a hole for thumb.
In piece shown, thumb holes measure 1.5 inches; try pinning before sewing to determine best size and placement for thumbhole.

Sew remaining 5.5-inch section in the same way.

Weave in ends.

ABOUT THE DESIGNER

Lee is a knitting, sewing, zine-making photographer, who often goes by the moniker "leethal". She has been designing as long as she can remember, but this is the first time she has translated a knit design into a written pattern.

By the time you read this, she should be taking Portland by storm with her crafty creations, which you can see on leethal.net, along with her blog, zine, and photography.