Last Summer's Scarf

Ever since we started spending so much time the last few years in Montreal, my partner Patrick and I have noticed how much everyone, both men and women alike, seems to appreciate the scarf as a go-to 4-season accessory.  I've enjoyed seeing all the big chunky knit versions atop all varieties of Canada Goose jackets -- another Montreal staple -- but call me optimistic, after a small spate of somewhat milder weather, my mind has once again started to turn toward summer knits.


I've been trying to knit my partner Patrick a men's summer 
scarf since last year, when I bought a couple of skeins of Habu Textiles luxurious and very fine Tsumugi silk.  Over the last many months, I can't tell you how many times I've cast on, knit several inches, then frogged this yarn.  (This yarn has a real tendency, once knit, to want to stay knit, so it's been a real exercize in patience.)  I've tried a bunch of difference stitch patterns, all in an effort to find something masculine and yet breezy: herringbone stitch, which didn't even really show up in the knitted piece; the Dudester Scarf pattern, which was just okay in this yarn, and I was about to try a linen stitch, when it occurred to me why not just try to see what it looks like in stocking stitch?  


Turns out that this very fine, slightly slubbed yarn knits up into a very simple and classic scarf in stocking stitch.  It's texture is featured beautiful in a flat knit like this, and it's still sheer enough to allow in a nice warm breeze.  It's taking quite a while to achieve any length, but I'm going to keep at it.  I'll definitely post a photo when it's done.  In the meantime, I think I still have a few weeks before summer's really here...here's a photo of taken in Montreal yesterday:

                                                                                 --- Hilary