Fall into a new scarf

I’m not a prolific scarf knitter, but I tend to get the itch about once a year.  It’s that time.  The bulk of the leaves have fallen from the trees.  Dusk is falling when I leave work at 5 pm.  The days are still warm, but it can be 40 degrees when I leave home in the morning. 

Scarf weather. I got both this yarn and pattern at the Briar Rose Fibers booth at Sock Summit back in August.  The yarn is Briar Rose Glory Days, a DK weight Blue Face Leicester.  Briar Rose yarns don’t have colorways – each skein is unique.  Many of them are quite large, too, so that you have enough for your project – this skein is 1000 yards/16 oz.  (I wish now that I’d taken a picture of one of those man-sized hanks we saw at the booth – truly impressive!)  This particular yarn seemed moody and contemplative, perfect for late fall.

I’m using Anne Hanson’s (Knitspot) pattern Butternut Scarf.  The pattern calls for a laceweight yarn and this is much heavier, so I reduced the number of pattern repeats from 4 to 2. 

The back of the scarf is different but no less attractive, in my book.  I hate scarves that only look good on one side.  You can always tell in photographs when a scarf has been styled to only show one side.  Bleh!  Real scarves don’t behave like that!  My scarves don’t have to be identical on both sides, but they do need to be attractive on both sides.  Here’s how the back is shaping up: This charted pattern is a 24-row repeat and requires paying attention on each row (no easy purl-back lace) so I’ve been knitting on it exclusively at home.  I need to step up the pace if I’m going to wear it this fall, though!