Tuesday 13 November 2007

Labour of love

A few weeks ago, Deri left for the other side of the world. I wanted to make something while he was gone, to knit him a little closer and to wrap him warm in when he gets back. He took his last scarf to New Zealand with him; I wanted a comfort blanket on the needles, and to knit him something he could wear to work next year.

I loved Henry as soon as I saw it. In a different life I'd have a loom as well as a basket of knitting needles, so the idea of knitting to look like weaving really appeals to me. I also thought a pattern written for 'those who may not necessarily choose to sport a hand knitted item' might be smart enough for a junior doctor to wear to his first job.

The colour and tweediness of this Inca Cloud are just what I wanted, and with the silky squashiness make the yarn a dream to knit with. They make counting the stitches in the swatches a little more earthbound...


... and that's before I've even begun. Typically, I only read the pattern after I'd bought the yarn and started swatching. Turns out that to make the scarf the desired length (2.2. m), I am going to be knitting 652 stitches in each row.

Good thing I didn't plan on making this for anyone else.

7 comments:

MeowGirl said...

652 stitches! the casting on will be an event in itself. :) i love the look of Henry. it's going to be a lovely welcome-back, was-thinking-about-you present. very sweet.

have you been wearing your handknit socks?

Anonymous said...

I love that pattern! The texture is amazing.

Laura said...

That is a beautiful pattern, and 652 stitches per row! Wow ... that's dedication! :)

Anonymous said...

Ack! I've bought yarn for that project as well (a charcoal grey alpaca, by coincidence). I can't even imagine how long it'll take to go back and correct a mistake. Knit carefully!

Ashley said...

...652? Must be love :)

Deri Trigg said...

I love you

Anonymous said...

Oh, gosh... feel the blog love, everybody! That is too darn cute for words.

How are the socks? We want to see them ON YOUR FEET! :)