My apologizes to President Lincoln. For some reason that just popped into my head while I was taking these photos. And since tomorrow is President’s Day, it seems appropriate – well, sorta anyway!
I’ve been making knitted scarves again. I use a Garter-carriage on my knitting machine. It is the only hands off method of knitting on a home knitting machine. The G-carriage chugs along the machine bed on its own – with the help of electricity, of course! The other wonder of the G-carriage is that it can do both the knit stitch and the purl stitch on the same row. This means that knits and purls can be piled on top of each other in consecutive rows in any combination. An example of this is the common seed stitch. On needles, it is knit one stitch, purl the next stitch, repeat. The next row is purl one, knit one, doing the purls on the stitches that were knit in the previous row and vice versa. This results in a piece that lays flat and does not curl. Thus it is great for scarves.
First Scarf
This was the first scarf. It is the seed stitch and has not been steamed or pressed. It is nice and flat. Made from my acrylic stash, it will go to charity.
Second Scarf
For my second try, I used a pattern that has some geometrical diamonds in it. Still lays flat with no curling at the edges. Another for charity.
Third scarf
My third scarf is skinnier, just 30 rows across. But the pattern did not have the knits and purls evenly distributed enough on the edges for it to stay flat. You can see the end on the right has the back side up and is curled in on the edges, looking like waves. I can steam it flat, but prefer a pattern that doesn’t need that, especially for scarves going to charity – as this one will.
Fourth scarf
This is my fourth scarf and the first in 100% alpaca yarn. This is yarn that I dyed myself. I opted for the simplest stitch – the seed stitch – because it stays flat and because the variation of the colors might overpower an intricate stitch pattern. This one will be for sale!
