Wool and Spice

This is a bulky neck warmer with a lot of presence but not a lot of weight. It fits well underneath my winter coat. I can wear it snugged up under my chin for maximum warmth or I can turn the top edge down like a shawl collar for coverage without all the warmth.

I came up with this quick little knitting project last week while browsing at The Stitch Knitch. I fell in love with the yarn color, a blue so pale that it’s almost white — until I put it with two big navy blue buttons that Terri had on hand. Big buttons are all the rage this year, I’ve seen them used with eye-popping appeal on both wraps and other neck warmers. These brought out the blue tones of this yarn and I couldn’t imagine using any other button for this project.

(I’ve enhanced the yarn color in this scan, otherwise it just looks washed out. It’s the best I can do using a scanner, in the absence of my camera.)

I knew the style I wanted and just needed a simple stitch pattern to give it some visual interest without eating up too much yarn. For that reason I knew cables were out. I went with double seed stitch, (I know, easy) and had enough yarn to pull it off. I used the last two feet of yarn to sew on the buttons.

Here’s the “unpattern” pattern if anybody wants to do something similar.

Blue over U neck warmer

Pattern: my own, see below
Yarn: Rowan Little Big Wool, 2 skeins, 50 gr, 66 yards each, wool and nylon
Needle size: US 10.5
Size: 7 inches by 30 inches long
Gauge: about 3.5 sts to the inch
Buttons: two large blue square buttons about 2 inches across

Stitch pattern: double seed stitch. k2, p2 for 2 rows, then p2,k2 for 2 rows. Repeat

Cast on 24 stitches.

Knit in double seed stitch for approximately 27 inches or until the scarf when wrapped around your neck gives a comfy feel without tightness. Cross the buttonhole end over the end that will have buttons and the length should be about 2.5″ shorter than desired.

Make your buttonholes. After experimenting I did thus:

Knit 3 stitches in pattern. Bind off 3 sts, knit 15 sts in pattern, bind off 3 sts, knit in pattern to end.
Next row, Knit 3 stitches in pattern, cast on 3, knit 15 in pattern, cast on 3, knit in pattern to end.

Continue knitting in pattern until desired length. Cast off loosely, paying attention to match your cast off to your cast on.

Try on your neck warmer and mark the position for the buttons. Sew buttons on, block and ta-da: you’re done!

Note:
I always wet block my projects (i.e. wash in Eucalan) because
a) I have cats who like to contribute their part to a project,
b) while I’d like to blame it all on a) above, I don’t always take good care of my works in progress,
c) washing often softens the yarn, which it did here,
d) blocking sets the stitches, evening out my tension, and
e) I’m just that kind of gal. I don’t wear new clothes until they’ve been washed either.

Tags: Knitting, neckwarmer