Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Simply Scarves - Striped scarf

It's that time of year when scarves are on everybody's mind, so I thought I'd share some knit & crocheted ones that I've made that are simple to do. Here's the first one:

The striping in this scarf was based on a number pattern known as the Fibonacci series, which goes like so: 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89,...etc. Leonardo Fibonacci was an Italian mathematician who came up with this pattern of numbers to relate to what the Renaissance artists of his day referred to as "the golden ratio". The golden ratio was a term used to signify perfection, measurements that in art or architecture that were always pleasing to the eyes. The Fibonacci series is often used to show the spiral of a seashell in nature. But enough of that mathematical history lesson, and on to how the striping was done.

I used cotton chenille that was 1400 YPP and double stranded it (which made it about equivalent to worsted weight). Knitting needles size 8.0 mm. The colours used are Raspberry (R), Butter (B), Chartreuse Green (C). When I selected the order of the stripes, I changed colours after knitting a pattern repeat of 5, 8, 1, 2, 3 rows. In case that doesn't make sense, this is exactly how my pattern went:

Knit the entire scarf in stocking stitch (row 1 is knit, row 2 is purl, repeat rows 1 & 2 to end of scarf). When I changed colours at the end of the rows, I'd leave a 4" tail, and then tie the new colour to it (also leaving a 4" tail) to make mini tassles of 4 strands intermitently along the sides. This would mortify my grandmother if she were still alive - How could I not weave in the ends! - but it's my scarf, and I like it :)

Starting with R, cast on 20.
*5 rows in R.
8 rows in B.
1 row in C.
2 rows in R.
3 rows in B.
5 rows in C.
8 rows in R.
1 row in B.
2 rows in C.
3 rows in R.
5 rows in B.
8 rows in C.
1 row in R.
2 rows in B.
3 rows in C. Repeat from *twice and cast off

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