Knitting In Mind

I got a request for a “ladybug” scarf.

Ladybug

Design: a reversible spotted scarf

I knew immediately which yarn I wanted to use. I had been suffering from Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino envy and just needed an excuse. I knew it came in black and a perfect red. 

It’s light enough for an all-over k1 p1 ribbing scarf, it will be nice and flat. Since it will be hanging with all the tension in the lengthwise direction, it will always be un-expanded. 
Wider and shorter would be a great Baby Blanket , lots of great colors of DBBC!

I knit a large swatch in k1 p1 ribbing to get the pattern gauge.

DBBC k1p1 ribbing swatch

I measured the gauge (un-expanded) and made a graph to match the size of the scarf I wanted.
Each square represents two stitches, one knit, one purl. Only the knit stitch will show, the purl stitches will recede and be visible as knit stitches on the other side.

I added circles to represent the spots and then tried different combinations of filled squares to get the best approximation of a circle.

Next, the worst part, okay maybe the second worst part, figuring out how to make a two-sided intarsia scarf that doesn’t look crappy on one side.

Floats = looks crappy

How to make the wrong side (WS) look as good as the right side (RS)…

RS to the left, WS to the right

Here’s what I came up with:

right side (RS), expanded

wrong side (WS), expanded, much improved

Here’s how I do it:

To hide the floats, I lift the float over a (same color) stitch that appears as a purl stitch on the right side (RS) (knit stitch on the wrong side (WS)). The float zig zags between the front and back laying on top of the purl bumps.

unattractive float (WS)

WS, lift float over stitch so float hides on purl bump
(knit stitch on WS) of same color stitch

WS, float dropped onto purl bump

WS, float woven between stitches (hidden),
float highlighted with white dots

One more time, going back the other way.

WS, ugly float

(flipped over to) RS, float lifted over from behind

RS, float dropped onto purl bump of same color,
float highlighted with white dots

RS, float woven between stitches (hidden),
float highlighted with white dots

right side (RS)

right side (RS) expanded,
floats highlighted with white dots

wrong side (WS)

wrong side (WS) expanded
floats highlighted with white dots

NOTE: Be sure to weave the float over stitches of the same color.

The Actual Worst Part:

Weaving In The Ends
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!
(thank goodness for Project Runway Season 3 on dvd!!!)

Each spot creates 4 ends. 21 spots = 84 ends
(in addition to the usual beginning and end of every ball)

NOTE: Weave in the ends mostly vertically, so they won’t work themselves out when the ribbing is stretched and springs back.

Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino, it is super soft. Lots of great colors for other spotted scarf combinations or baby blankets. It PILLS though. The beginning of the scarf was pilling by the time I finished it. DD is very happy with the scarf, we’ll see how it wears.