One Skein Wonders

For those who don't knit, you might not know about Ravelry. Ravelry is an online forum for knitters, crocheters, spinners, and yarn dyers.  I find most of the patterns that I use on Ravelry, and am always inspired by the projects and yarn art posted there.  Ravelry is supporting the winter olympic spirit by holding the ravolympics.  I'm not much of a 'joiner' - but decided to join a team at the last minute to challenge myself to complete several knitting projects in the two weeks the olympics run. 

My first project was a 24 hour sprint:  Leafy Cabled Scarf by Grace McEwen.  I found Grace's designs on Etsy and Ravelry, and think they are really beautiful.  I'm always excited to find great knits that can be done quickly with a single skein.  Art yarn can be expensive, and while most people can splurge on a skein occasionally - but it's not always easy to find a single skein pattern that is exciting.  I recently dyed some DK superwash in a winter multi-colorway that I wanted to try out.  I used Kathee's DK in Winterscape, and ended up with this:

I thought at first that the colorway might be a bit too busy for the pattern, but as you can see, the design is quite distinct and the leafy pattern shows well.  I modified the pattern just a bit: I eliminated the cables on the neckband so that it would lay open wider, and put a slit on one side so that one leaf cluster would feed through the slot and the scarf would stay closed on its own. 

I am so happy with the way this DK superwash handles and will be carrying it on a regular basis. 

I'm not 100% sure what I'm doing for my second project - it's a toss up between nordic stranded mittens or lacy cabled mittens.  Spring is not quite here in the Pacific Northwest, so there's plenty of time to enjoy mittens and scarves.  Take a look at the rest of KnitChickGrace designs - there are several fantastic one skein wonders!