Lofty Scarf

Pattern: Lofty
Source: Rowan 34
Yarn: Alpaca with a Twist - Baby Twist (bark)
Needles: 7.5 mm needles

Lofty

Last October I visited the NY Sheep and Wool Festival in Rhinebeck for the first time. It was incredibly fun, but very overwhelming and I ended up coming back with only one skein of yarn: the softest baby alpaca. Since then, it's been sitting in my stash, waiting.

Having just finished Birch and perusing the rest of Rowan 34, I remembered the Lofty scarf. Perfect! Lofty calls for Rowan Cork, a long discontinued yarn that's almost entirely merino with a touch of nylon. I think the baby alpaca is a suitable substitute and I've just had to knit it with two strands to match the bulkiness of Cork. The pattern is knit on the bias and uses a drop stitch method of varying length.

We've just booked our hotel for Rhinebeck this year and this time I'm going with more of a plan and maybe for more of that baby alpaca!

Birch Reviewed

I love Birch. It is the prettiest thing and I love looking at it as you can probably see by the number of photos I posted. I'll tell you what I learned along the way.

Mason-Dixon created a Top Ten Things to Remember When Knitting Birch which you might want to review if you're planning on knitting it up (you really should). I don't agree with all their suggestions, but here's what I learned:

1. The 299 stitch cast on was not a problem. It took me about an hour and I just took my time and placed markers every 10 stitches.

2. There are actually two versions of Birch. A stockinette and a garter version. I went with the stockinette because I like a right side and a wrong side. It's difficult to even find a garter version online, but I imagine that the lace work would appear looser.

3. I wrote out the 4 row pattern (not including purl rows) on a sticky note to carry around with me. You don't need a chart. It's a very simple pattern that you'll have memorized pretty quickly, but if you'd like one, here you go: Birch Chart.

4. I kept those stitch markers on the whole way. I wasn't taking any chances and it paid off. The only thing I would suggest is to use moveable markers because after you finish a repeat they'll always be off and you'll be shifting them one stitch to the left. Don't panic when this happens!

5. I followed the pattern, using 3 skeins of Kidsilk Haze and 5.0 mm needles. I found many people were buying extra yarn or going down in needle size because of probably running out. I was paranoid the whole way through, even though I did some quick math, but I was left with about a thumb sized bit left (see above)

6. Blocking it was hard work. It's a HUGE shawl. The top of my shawl measured about 7 feet wide, so you're going to need a lots of space to do this. I used my back deck. Check it out.

7. I'd knit this again, but who has the time!

Birch

Blocking Birch

Birch is sunning itself out on the back deck, as we speak.

Come back later for the final reveal!

Twelve Days Later and a Bit of Saturday Sky

I had to run out and rig this up fast because it was starting to rain a bit.

I did some quick math and I'm pretty confident that I won't have a problem with running out of yarn, something I've heard several people online having trouble with. I'm a fairly tight knitter.

We're almost done. Just about to start the last ball of yarn and 16 repeats to go!

P.S. I'm on vacation for THREE WEEKS!

Birch Progress

Birch

299 stitches patiently cast on.

Preview

Look what's coming up next!