What started as an innocent trip to Blazing Needles in Salt Lake City, UT. with dear friend and knitting mentor Sue, quickly turned into an infatuation with a blend of mohair and silk lace yarn that I had never worked with before. That paired with the perfect pattern for a scarf and I knew what would be my favorite accessory this fall.
The green scarf was the first of the two. I used one skein of Alchemy's Haiku silk and kid mohair yarn, in "Good Earth". http://www.purlsoho.com/purl/products/item/1025 All I can say about this yarn is the sheen is DIVINE.
I took the scarf with me to work on, on a recent trip and had people coming up to me in the airport asking what I was knitting with, it's that beautiful. An older woman stopped, came up to me and without a word started stroking the scarf, gave me a smile and thumbs up just before her daughter came to yell at her in what I think was Mandarin. The poor lady took off to grab the carry on that she had left close by in the airport as they ran down the terminal together. I'd like to think that it was the yarn that distracted her. It really is irresistible.
I loved the scarf so much, (and because I ended up giving it away on that trip to my sister as an early Christmas present), that I decided to make another for myself. This time in Rowan's Kidsilk Haze Yarn, in "Hurricane". I used two full skeins this time to make it longer to get a looser drape when wrapped around the neck.
The pattern: by Churchmouse Yarns and Teas Mohair Bias Loop, is easy enough I think for beginners, and is completed in the kitchener stitch, grafting both ends of the work together, leaving no seam. That, and the stitches that all slant on a bias...I was sold.
Ohhhh! How decadent! I love fine fibers too. When we went to Scotland a few years ago, I bought several skeins of mohair/silk blend in such gorgeous colors! Sadly, they're still waiting to be used, because they're so beautiful I don't know what to use them for. This is a great, wonderful idea! Thanks for sharing. And welcome to the bloggosphere. I have a blog too: cheboricuas.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteI am glad you liked it! I agree though, it's worth the wait to find the right pattern for a beautiful yarn. This is a link for another pattern for lace weight yarn, and I think mohair silk would work too. It's basically the same scarf as the one mentioned above but the ends aren't grafted together with the kitchener stitch. I would also check Rowan's latest magazine that just is coming out for fall. It's their magazine #50, and there is a beautiful shawl/scarf using mohair as well, so it's bright AND has translucent qualities that come with the mohair lace yarns.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/bias-before--after-scarf
http://www.knitrowan.com/designs-and-patterns/patterns/alder-wrap
and p.s., I just saw your blog! Love it. You are such a talented writer!