FO: My Malabrigo Irish Hiking Scarf! Yum

What'cha Knittin'?
1

Hi y’all! :waving:

Whilst on a week’s wilderness vacation (last week)…I knit up an Irish Hiking Scarf using 2 skeins of Malabrigo yarn, color “Simply Taupe”. Wonderful to handle and knit! Just divine!

The first skein gave me 31" in length…the total length for both skeins, 60".

However, [B]dumb me :eyes:[/B]…even though the two skeins had the same “lot number”…and they[B] LOOKED[/B] identical…in the hanks as well as in the wound-up centerpull “cakes”…they [B]WERE NOT[/B] the same by a long shot!

After I tied on the 2nd skein and had knit two repeats…I could SEE the difference! BIG DIFFERENCE! The first skein was more muted creams, beiges, tans, and taupes. The second skein had brighter creams and taupier taupes. The scarf was going to look like hideous! Like two separate halves!
So, I frogged back to the “50 yard line” :frog:…and disconnected skein #2.

From there, I rolled up the 31" scarf…used it as a skein #1 (didn’t yank it all out and re-wind into a separate ball: pulled out 2 or 3 rows at a time as needed)…and re-knit the entire scarf using SKEIN #1 for rows 1,2,5,6 and SKEIN #2 (the brighter skein) for rows 3,4,7,8.

I tied in the skeins between the 3rd and 4th stitch so that the edge of the scarf would not look wonky.

Anyhoo, whereas the first 31" scarf was done in one day…the re-knit scarf (60") took the better part of 3 days!
Switching skeins every two rows just takes extra time.

I had heard that “kettle dyed” yarns should be knit by alternating two skeins every few rows…but it just didn’t dawn on me in time. The two skeins LOOKED identical.

Well, here is the scarf! Done! I will wash it later this week using UNICORN Fiber Wash, specially created for laundering natural fibers. My yarn was “baptized in dust” numerous times as high gusts of wind blew one skein or the other onto the ground! :pout:

2

Wow…that is gorgeous!:inlove:

3

beautiful! I’ll have to remember to do the same when i knit up my two skeins of peachtree :heart:

4

Absolutely beautiful! I love the subtle colors of the yarn. I admire all the effort you went to in order to conceal the color differences between the two skeins – what a pain! But worth it in the end – it’s just beautiful.

Do you intend to block it? I just finished knitting IHS with Reynolds Odyssey, and am undecided as to whether or not to block. I love the thick, scrunchy texture of all the cables, and I don’t want to lose any of that. On the other hand, the garter stitch edge doesn’t lay entirely flat, so I can’t decide . . . What do you think?

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Hi’ya Slim! :waving: No, I won’t actually block it…but I will launder it as I said, using the UNICORN fiber wash specially formulated for natural fibers/yarns.

If it had not blown off onto the ground so many times, and if it was for me…I would not even wash it…

…but since it did get ‘baptized in the dust’ numerous :eyes:times, and because it is a gift for my DSIL…I will launder it!

6

WOW that is beautiful.To bad about the yarn,all that extra work:waah:

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Hi’ya! :waving: I shoulda known. My BAD. But, when I knit a jacket using similar colors (NORO Transitions) several years ago…similar colorway…I never encountered the problem.

Coulda, shoulda, woulda. :pout:

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Beautiful! I LOVE the colors!

9

truly gorgeous, as always. :heart:
i’ve never been a fan of taupe, but seeing how you’ve knit it up has turned me into a convert. it’s all in the pattern (and the yarn, of course! :wink:).

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Hi Lady Violet! :waving:

I used this “Simply Taupe” in lieu of a basic cream color that is seen on many Irish or Celtic knits. I thought this color would be good for a man’s IHS. Not as boring as cream…but neutral enough to be worn with his various topcoats, jackets and suits. He is quite the GQ dresser.

I asked my DH: "Tell me honesty…is this color (the taupe) in anyway “sissy-looking” to you? (My DH is a hunter/logger/cabin builder) He said “By no means. If I wore scarves, I would wear it!”

So, that was my “green light” to go ahead and give it to my DSIL!

Now, I will go in and get it hand-washed and set out to dry!

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So, I frogged back to the “50 yard line” :frog:…and disconnected skein #2.

:passedout: Holy cow!!! That had to have been rough!

This scarf is gorgeous!!! You did a fantastic job!!!

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Looks great!

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I washed the IHS tonight, using 3 squirts of UNICORN fiber wash in 2 qts lukewarm water in the sink. WOW! Could not believe all the dirt that came out into the water! Mountain dust! Shees. Then rinsed it in 2 qts lukewarm water with 3 squirts of the UNICORN Rinse! More dirt in the water, so I repeated the rinse process again! BOY OH BOY! The scarf brightened up a lot! It is laying out on the floor on towels to dry. (I don’t have kids or cats at home!) UNICORN wash has a hint of lavendar in it, and is all natural and biodegradable. It is really nice. Highly recommend it to anyone who knits with natural fibers. I sound like an AD, don’t I? :teehee:

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Thanks for your compliments Weebie! :waving:

Yes, it was very disappointing…but it would have been major discouraging if the scarf had a “deadline”! As it was, I was on vacation, no pressure…so I took a deep breath…and moved forward.

What is the saying?? [COLOR=blue]"RELAX…RELATE…RELEASE! [/COLOR]

15

It looks so yummmmyyyyy!!! Great job, it’s absolutely delicious:woot:

16

Oh, wow!!! That is truly beautiful-and I am impressed at the lengths you went to to make it perfect :yay::cheering: There woulda been a whooooole lotta whining if it where me! :mad: LOL! But in the end, worth it!!

I want one too :teehee:

I think it looks great for a man, too-no sissy quotient at all!! The colors are perfect.

Great job!

17

Beautiful work, and I am so impressed with the effort you put into fixing the color “problem.” I would probably just have continued on and hoped for the best! I’m a lazy knitter at heart, I guess. :shrug:

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VERY nice!!

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[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]Beautiful as always. :yay:[/SIZE][/FONT]

20

It’s beautiful! And it looks so snuggly.