Tag Archives: no pattern

Green Bouclé Scarf

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A few weeks ago, I decided to take apart a sweater that I’ve never worn, one knitted some thirty years ago. The post about that was The Turquoise Pullover.

Here’s the first repurposing of the yarn.

Scarf knit from green bouclé handspun wool/mohair blend by Deborah Cooke

I took all the bouclé and knit a scarf in garter stitch. This isn’t a fancy or complicated project, but the garter stitch—and the larger needles—really show off the yarn, I think. You can see all the colours at this looser gauge.

It’s about 10″ wide and 54″ long, and used every inch of the yarn – I just wove in the ends until they vanished and carried on. Where the yarn was thin, I doubled it up, which diminished the thick-and-thiness of it a bit. You can see that there’s inconsistency but this isn’t a reflection of the spinner’s skill – when I frogged this yarn, the loose single ply structure worked against me and this yarn pulled out to be thinner. I tried to be careful, but the yarn’s consistency still suffered. You can see that the boules were stretched out to the vanishing point in some places.

The uneven texture makes it look like a first project to me, which is kind of funny. Why? Because the needles were wooden ones, actually the ones my grandmother gave me when she taught me to knit. I was four. They’re bigger than 6.0mm and smaller than 6.5mm, so maybe someone made them for her. I like the patina on them and the memories they stir up.

Come to think of it, she taught me to knit with a pink yarn that was slightly thick and thin. I knit a scarf for one of my dolls that was about four inches wide, if memory serves, in garter stitch.

Scarf knit from green bouclé handspun wool/mohair blend by Deborah Cooke

For this one, I cast on and cast off with the coordinating silk blend to make a neater edge, and did a couple of rows at each end in garter stitch with that yarn.

It’s a very thick and warm scarf, but not too long. Crossed in front, it covers my neck right up to my chin. It’ll be perfect under a coat next winter. I thought about a fringe or tassels in the contrasting yarn, but it’s all kinky from being frogged right now. I’ll see how much of it is left after I finish the cowl and may embellish this scarf then.

The Turquoise Pullover

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This is another one from the vaults, as they say. It began because I went to a spinners’ festival once upon a time at the Arboretum in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It must have been in the late 1980’s. I bought four yarns that day, just because they were beautiful, including two in bluey-greens. Then I didn’t know what to do with any of it.

The two blue-green yarns coordinated. One was a thick-and-thin mohair blend – I’ve since learned that I always like thick-and-thin yarns in the skein and never know what to do with them – and the other was a smooth silk blend, maybe aran weight. I had envisioned the two yarns together, even though their textures were really different, but couldn’t find a pattern. I also didn’t have that much of either of them.

When I found a commercial yarn that came in two shades that coordinated beautifully, this was the result:

turquoise pullover designed and knit by Deborah Cooke

The two handspun yarns are used for the top and the sleeves. I alternated them in 4-row stripes of moss stitch. Even the blue and green commercial yarns had blended colours, so they worked really well with the handspun ones.

Turquoise pullover designed and knit by Deborah Cooke

The cream contrast is another commercial yarn with a long variegation. It feels as if it’s part cotton, maybe part acrylic, but the label is long gone. I loved the gradation in it.

I have a vague recollection that the intarsia pattern was from a book, but I don’t know which one now.

This sweater is a cropped length because that’s how much yarn I had. It’s incredibly warm so I never wore it much. In fact, I haven’t worn it even once in over 30 years, so something needs to be done. The yarn is too beautiful to sit in the cedar box.

Here’s my Ravelry project page, although there isn’t a lot of detail there.

I tried this sweater on again and rediscovered another issue. The top is very thick and bulky, and it’s wide in the shoulders. It’s not a flattering fit. Also the contrast line above the intarsia used to be below my bustline. Now it isn’t. Ha. So, that’s not a good look either. I decided to unravel it and save the intarsia part as a cowl.

Wow. Did I ever do a good job of seaming up this sweater! It was a challenge, but I’ve taken apart the body and have what will be the cowl back on my needles. (I’m guessing what size they were.) The plan is to knit a ribbed backing and join it to the cast-on hem, so only the part between the contrast ridges will be on the right side. I’ll show it to you when it’s completed.

I dove into the stash in search of more of the blue and green commercial yarn. No luck but I did find more of the creamy one *and* the label. (Ha.)

What about the thick-and-thin mohair and the silk blend? Stay tuned for its new incarnation. I have a plan…