Looking for the perfect scarf...

[Christine]

I've decided that I need a mindless scarf project on my needles the same time I'm making Dave's sweater and fingerless gloves.

My dad lives in Upstate NY and hikes often in the White Mountains in New Hampshire. I'd really love to make something he could take hiking. I'd make it in 100% wool but I need it relatively lightweight and masculine. I don't think he'd be overly impressed by cables and bobbles. I also need it to be a pattern I can memorize and pick up easily.

I'm scanning all over Ravelry and I'm just not seeing what I'm looking for. I thought maybe you guys would have experience knitting something like this and could point me in the right direction.

TIA!

[Kate]

I have the SnB calendar for this year, which has provided me with a very easy matching ribbed hat and scarf, with the detail being provided by the colourway rather than the patern. Would that help at all?

[Christine]

http://thegarterbelt.com/em_habitforming.html

I don't know...

[Christine]

I know a rib scarf would be easy to knit, I just don't know if it will give the coverage he needs when he's hiking. I was thinking of something relatively flat that will fold up small?

[Christine]

I'm thinking of the Henry (http://knitty.com/issuefall07/PATThenry.html) scarf, but I don't think it's mindless enough to be a nighttime TV project. :giggle

[Lori]

I'm thinking of the Henry (http://knitty.com/issuefall07/PATThenry.html) scarf, but I don't think it's mindless enough to be a nighttime TV project. :giggle

I made Sean a scarf based on the Henry scarf that he really likes. But, there was no way I was going to be knitting a scarf in fingering-weight yarn (especially when he told me a couple of weeks before Christmas that he wanted a scarf). I actually ended up working the transverse woven herringbone pattern while holding two strands of worsted weight wool together, because I was really in a rush, but I think it would have been perfect with one strand of worsted weight. I would have cast on, I think about 44 stitches or so. Oh, and obviously that means I worked it from top to bottom, instead of side-to-side like Henry. It's a really nice stitch pattern, and looks good on both sides, but I'm not sure if I'd call it mindless TV knitting. It was my audiobook project because I kept losing my place when I tried working on it in front of the TV or a movie, and it was really hard to go back and fix mistakes because of the slipped stitches, but I may be more distractable than other people, so I think somebody with better concentration could easily manage the pattern in front of the TV.

There's a bias rib scarf (http://www.magknits.com/Jan08/patterns/ornoabaci.htm) in the new Magknits that's nice. I'd probably make it a little fatter and quite a bit shorter, but it seems easy to modify.

And Jejune had a scarf pattern (http://knittingkninja.com/2007/12/04/dapper-herringbone-scarf/) on her blog, in woven diagonal herringbone, that's lovely.

I'm thinking of making Sean a worsted-weight scarf in either the bias rib or woven diagonal herringbone, but I haven't decided which one, since they're both really nice patterns. ;)

[Christine]

I really love both of those Lori - thank you!

Now I'm going to try to interpret those and see which one I could handle. :giggle

[Jejune]

There's a better version of mine, too, if you like it. (Thanks for the shout out, Lori! Mwah!) Orata on Ravelry (who is an absolutely lovely individual) changed it up just a little to make sure it lies totally flat, and she added a nice i-cord border to fix any wonky edges. I didn't get wonky edges, but it's really easy to do so with that pattern.

Anyway, mine can definitely be TV knitting - it's really, really simple. I picked the stitch pattern for that reason. LOL

Hmmm...Daniel really likes his Ropes and Ladders (http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/ropes-and-ladders-scarf) scarf, even though he's not usually keen on cables. The Noro Striped Scarf (http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/noro-striped-scarf)is always a goody. I also found this thread (http://www.ravelry.com/discuss/patterns/47976/1-25#3) on Ravelry about manly scarves that aren't too hard to make.

[Christine]

Thank you guys!

I love your scarf, Kristen, but I think I'm leaning towards the Magknits scarf. I could do it in Red Sox colors and he'd be thrilled. He'd probably be more happy about that then the fact that it's handmade. Oh well. ;)

I'm going to check out the thread on Ravelry and see what they've come up with. :D

[Christine]

Ugh... I'm totally in love with this unstriped version of the Campus Scarf (http://faitavecamour.canalblog.com/archives/2006/12/19/3472831.html), but it's in a book.

I'm thinking maybe of the One-Row Scarf (http://www.yarnharlot.ca/blog/archives/2006/10/12/one_row_handspun_scarf.html) with some tweed?

[Jejune]

Christine, I missed this post before, and I'm sure you're already knitting something, but I think you could figure that Campus scarf out pretty easily. It looks to be a slightly more complicated form of a knit/purl checkerboard.

The Yarn Harlot one is great, though! And I'm always always in favor of tweed.

[Christine]

I decided to wait a little while on the scarf. I'm thinking it's going to end up being a Christmas present so I technically have all year to figure it out. :)