At last the infinity “My Favourite Things” scarf is done!
Wow! What a great project! I have to admit that, sadly, many of the hours spent on this project have been in the wee small hours of the morning. Long story short: suspected pneumonia is, in fact, acute bronchitis complicated by asthma, hellish cough, sleepless nights, long recovery, several cups of tea in the upright position to prevent further attacks and subsequent knitting at all kinds of strange hours.
I started the project during half-term break (end of Feb) at my parent’s house in, Jämtland. I saw the idea for the project on the fabulous Ravelry website and realised that it would be the ideal stash-buster project. I had quite a few odds and ends still stored with my mum – just think most of the scarf has been using just scraps of yarn! No waste!
My previous post shows how this all began: https://garnharmoni.com/2014/02/27/work-in-progress-my-favourite-things-scarf/ . The concept is quite simple, but the possibilities are endless: make a series of patterns representing your own personal favourite things, or even just anything that makes you happy.
Some of the designs I found online and many ideas initially came from the original pattern by Jill McGee and those of other Ravelry users linked to the pattern: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/my-favourite-things-infinity-scarf and here is my Ravelry project page: http://www.ravelry.com/projects/clarinutty/my-favourite-things-infinity-scarf
However, as the project grew, so did my confidence and I found myself being more creative. For instance, I found inspiration in the design on some food bowls, drew a chart with a mirror image and then knitted it up (shown in pictures above.) I also found it fairly easy to draw some notation as a musician. My love for my two cats is in a pattern that I saw online but then adapted to my own needs, changing the body shape and adding a heart above. Well, who can resist some cute owls and fluffy sheep? Then there is a small row of St George flags to show my English side, yet many a Scandinavian pattern reflects my pride in my Swedish half (and that is another story!) In particular, the Dala Häst (the traditional horses), the viking ships, and the line of people dancing are all very Swedish and very pleasing from a design point of view.
Quite late in the day I ordered two books by Mary Jane Mucklestone and I am really glad that I did. Many online knitters recommended her books, and rightly so and there is much in my scarf that can be sourced from her two excellent books on Fair Isle and Scandinavian patterns. I am so inspired by both editions to make lots more, incorporating and adapting these ideas into even more colourful and beautiful creations. A really clear lay-out makes it easy to see how many stitches and rows are in each repeat and makes it easier to calculate any adjustments as necessary to fit the number of cast on stitches. In this case of my 96 stitches (on a 4mm circular needle) I used multiples of 4,6,8,12,24, making small changes here and there to make the designs fit.
Anyway, I am really pleased with the results! Almost a bit sad that it is finished!
What do you think? Does any motif stand out in particular? Does it work to have so many contrasting colours? What would it be like if there were only two contrast colours all the way through? What would be your favourite things to include?
The pictures are taken from a variety of places and times as a reflection of the fact it is a long-term project. However, there is so much variation and working in small blocks of patterns means it easy to work in small chunks of time (if necessary) and never get bored.
Go on, have a go! And please share pictures of your work if you do!
garnharmoni 
Christina your a very clever lady well done .
Thank you, Margaret! Glad you like the scarf and welcome to the blog! 🙂
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