Friday, March 20, 2009

Aran work

I finished a scarf for a friend who is visiting tomorrow. Of all the knitting I do, Aran work has to be my favourite. I design my own patterns.

Here is the scarf:



And this is a closeup:



I decided not to add a fringe or other adornment as it stands alone as a classic piece that will match everything.

It is done on 33 stitches in Chunky Aran from my stash on Size 6mm needles. The cables represent my friendship with Claire, the diamonds my wishes for her.

I will transcribe my notes and post them here when I get a minute so that my patterns are provided.

This took 8 hours: 5 Daily Shows with Jon Stewart, 1 Grey's Anatomy with the grandgirl and 2 movies.

2 comments:

  1. Good for you to design your own Aran patterns, it all seems difficult. I have made Aran jumpers (=sweaters) in the past for friends as very few Irish people wear them, they are just too warm and a bit scratchy if done in the original Aran wool! That used to be hand woven in the Aran Islands off the coast of Galway and Clare, and was full of thorns and bits of twigs and of course very lanolin-y from the sheep scrabbling around on the bare stony fields. I like the scarf! Of course now there is Aran wool which is factory spun and softer, and the patterns are complex but once you crack the code it is repetition. Cable needles, row counters and knitting safety pins all help!
    havne't visited your blog for a while, so good do let me know when you post the patterns.
    Catherine

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  2. This is lovely! I like Aran also, though haven't done much since my first Aran project, a cardigan.

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