Sunday, May 16, 2010

FO: leaves scarf

drying

Leaf scarf done. Or at least I call it a scarf, I think I’m might use it as bunting, it’s not the sort of thing I’d wear normally. It's a bit big for a necklace and too small for a scarf. That said, I don't really have much call for bunting either. It's finished anyway, even if I'm not sure what I'll do with it yet.

It was always more of a process knit rather than something produced for the final product. A nice easy project to take to knitting groups. I had a few balls of green yarn leftover from a sweater. I didn't want a green hat or a green scarf. I liked how grassy the yarn was. So I decided to knit some leaves.

leaves scarf WIP close up

It's really just icord with the odd leaf growing out of it. I kept knitting until I run out of yarn, adding new stems and leaves wherever looked appropriate. The leaves were easy to make, 2kfb, k, turn, sl1, k2. Then continue to increase either side of the center stitch every RS row until it was big enough, then a few plain rows, before decreasing back again (always slipping the first stitch of each row). I did a center decrease where you slip 2 sts at once, k1, then pass both slipped sts over at once. This helps make the "stem" of the leaf pop. Yes, there were a lot of ends to sew in, but I just did them as I was going rather than leaving them to the end of the project.

before blocking

The result was a long vine of quite crumbled leaves. Most people I showed the WIP seemed to like this look. I did too, but I also really wanted to see what would happen if I blocked it, how (or if) I could re-shape the leaves. Above is a pre-blocking shot, below shows after. This "during" shot shows the leaves flattened out for a bit, but it didn't make much difference in the long run.

The above shot is also a "bunting" shot as opposed to one of me wearing it as a scarf, below. What do you think, bunting or scarf? (or something else?). All ideas gratefully crowd-sourced.

As ever, there are a few notes on the yarn and needles on the project's ravelry page (n.b. this is public ravelry link, you don't have to be logged it to see it. Ravelry project pages don't have to be exclusive any more, how cool is that?).

wearing! 2

22 comments:

juicyknits said...

It is very very pretty and no matter what you call it - but it looks amazing on you. I also like the contrast to your dress

Anne said...

I can't personally imagine when I'd ever use bunting, which probably influences my thoughts, but I like it as a scarf.

lori said...

actually, it is very pretty as a 'scarf,' even though it's not really like a scarf. maybe it's something that doesn't have a name - just a lovely accessory! seeing yours makes me more likely to make one for myself, to be honest!

Norah said...

I love it as a scarf. There have been a lot of those non-traditional decorative scarves around lately, that are sort of a cross between scarves and necklaces. It looks great on you.

Tesla said...

Love it!

Pigwotflies said...

Looks gorgeous over that pink/purple dress. I like it. A scarf for days where you're feeling surreal, perhaps?

charissa said...

I'm definitely more in the bunting camp than scarf -- perhaps pinned/tacked with stitches to a cloth lampshade for an indoor/outdoor light fixture feel?

Carmen said...

It is very nice as knitted jewelry. I didn't expect to like it "on", but it is really rather nice.

rachel said...

I'm leaning towards bunting, I think... but really, it's quite cute either way.

Anonymous said...

I definitely prefer the bunting style, personally.

This looks like such a therapeutic knit!

Knitting Out Loud said...

The answer to "how cool is that" is "extremely cool!"

Jen (pieKnits) said...

I love the whimsy of this! And that first shot a particularly great photo.

D said...

Gorgeous, Alice.

Laughingrat said...

That's really fun--such an unusual scarf!

The A.D.D. Knitter said...

Ok, 13,000 days later...I like the bunting look, myself!

Heather Woollove said...

This is terrific!! It looks almost felted!
...clever you!

Pairwa said...

Lovely scarf idea. You created something new and it is very important.
And I am making scarves when I have free time. I'm trying to create new patterns too.
Thank you, Pairwa.
buy handmade scarf

Anonymous said...

I think every space can be improved by applying bunting (much to my boyfriend's despair; I have been known to bring bunting camping and dangle it uselessly around out tent - a sort of innocuous-looking trip-wire, if you will...), but either way, I LOVE these leaves.

Levitra 20mg said...

Amazing what you can do with whole. Looks very unique.

www.orense-3d.com said...

Pretty helpful info, much thanks for the article.

stinkfaerie said...

This is beautiful!
Yes it makes a lovely scarf and looks amazing.
I hope you don't mind but I'm stealing your idea to create bunting for a festival. Better start now as we're gonna need about 500 metres of the stuff for the summer!

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