Local Gringos: Postmodern Pioneers: The Swiss Cheese Scarf

Thursday, January 17, 2013

The Swiss Cheese Scarf–Another Knitting Project Done, Yay!

I’ve just bound off my Swiss Cheese Scarf, and I’m so pleased – even if my mom does think (rightly, I guess) that it resembles one of those rubber strip doormats …

I knitted this up from Winnie Shih’s free knitting pattern, downloadable from Ravelry, using Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sport yarn in the Mineshaft colorway. Is this gorgeous yarn, or what?

I edited Winnie’s pattern for my sport weight yarn (gauge 6 sts per inch on US 4 for an 8” wide scarf) as follows:
CO 48 sts
Rows 1 - 6: Knit
Row 7: K3 (BO6, K6) 3 times, BO6, K3
Row 8: K3 (CO6, K6) 3 times, CO6, K3
Rows 9 - 14: Knit
Row 15: BO3, K6 (BO6, K6) 3 times, K3
Row 16: BO3, K6 (CO6, K6) 3 times, CO3
Row 17: Knit to end, CO3
This modification gives you alternating 3 and 4 holes per holey row.
I gave up on the backwards loop cast-on she uses, I just couldn’t get it to look right. Instead, I used a cable cast-on, which meant I had to flip the scarf each time, but it looked better.
I love the finished scarf and so does DH, so we can share it - and I enjoyed the pattern. I didn’t mind the tedium of all the bind-offs and cast-ons, I actually found it soothing! This was a great travel & TV-watching project.
I might have liked the finished scarf to be a bit longer (my version came out 58” long) but I didn’t have more of the yarn and was ready to move on anyway … next up, I’ll be knitting another of Cat Bordhi’s awesome Anemone Hats (number 5!), this one for my nephew. I swear, every time I wear my Anemone Hat in public someone begs me to knit one for them!

ETA: Duh, I hadn’t blocked the scarf when I took the measurement! Blocked length is a generous 71 inches, and blocking made the holes nice & round. Here's the "after blocking" photo. Dang, what a difference!