Irish Hiking Scarf Birthday Gift

Yarn: 1 3/4 skeins of Stella Oberlyn Yarn (50% baby suri, 40% extra fine merino, 10% cashmere) in Color 5930
Source: Mouline
Needles: Size US 8/ 5.0 mm
Scarf Length: 61 inches long
Started: November 18th / Finished: November 26th
Completed for my husband's birthday.

This was my very first cable project, and I absolutely loved it. I am also really impressed with the way the scarf turned out, and so is my hubby!

I blog here.

irish gifting scarf

(i totally stole this writeup directly from my blog. sorry, i'm lazy.)
if there is a bandwagon i generally am about halfway to my destination before i realize that i've jumped on. such is the case with the irish hiking scarf. a friend of mine was always kind of confused about why i knit. and really confused about why i got excited by yarn. then i took him on his first yarn store outing. he was all, "ooh! what can you do with this?" he found a lovely skein of eco wool, and requested that i make him a scarf. a really long cabley one. since i both loved the yarn and have been wanting to make a cabley scarf, i gladly acceded to the request. and it only took about a week. yay thick yarn!

this was knit on size 10 1/2 needles. for the first time, i think ever, i actually followed the pattern. i am quite pleased with the results.

one more time? i think yes.

DIFFICULTY:
AWESOMENESS:

I did it!

I finished my first irish hiking scarf and hat last week. I used 6 balls of Knit Picks Swish in Dublin (the color name seemed fitting). I used about 1.5 balls for the hat and the rest made a scarf 6 feet long. I love the pattern and how easily it knit up. Will be sending it out this week for a Christmas gift. I also didn't see any noticable pilling or fuzzing after 2 trips through the washer.

Edited because I couldn't get the pics to show up in Blogger.

Here is the scarf:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/31884002@N00/306039692/

And the hat:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/31884002@N00/306039686/

One done, one in the works

My first Irish Hiking Scarf. It took two skeins of Plymouth Encore yarn, and I could have probably used more. I went up a needle size because, with the pulling in of the cables, I didn't think a size 8 gave a wide-enough scarf. Now I have a very warm scarf that is a bit shorter than I would wish. When I stretched it width-wise, it was at least 8 inches! Heehee. My brother fell in love with it, though, and it is so very warm. I loved this pattern and have another in the works for a Christmas gift. I can't wait to try this pattern with a hat!

another one finished

I've finished another Irish Hiking Scarf. this one will be a christmas gift for my father-in-law.I've used some yarn I had im my stash.

Agneta in Sweden

Finally done

I finished my IHS over a month ago but haven't had the time to post it until now. It turned out great and it helped me get over my cabling fear. :) I'll definitely make this again but with much softer yarn such as Debbie Bliss' cashermino in a color that isn't so blah. This gray acrylic/wool doesn't do much to make the cables pop as much as I wanted.

IHS Finished!

I finally finished my IHS a couple of days ago.

The color in the top photo is pretty true. I love how this yarn looks in cables

The actual knitting didn't take very long. I had just put her up at the last set of repeats to work on other projects.

I ran out of yarn at 50", but she's long enough for me.

I want to make the hat next. Probably something that both my husband and I can wear.

Half way in 2 days, ran out of yarn!

I stumbled upon this KAL last week and was so excited to find something not too complicated to get over my fear of cabling. I have been reading your posts and marveling over your pics, everyone has done a wonderful job, I'm glad to get to throw my hat in this ring too.

I have been sitting on this yarn my friend's brought me back from Italy for house/pet sitting for them and it was so beautiful I wanted to wait until I improved before I attempted to knit something with it. When I saw this scarf pattern I knew it would be perfect. I was only given two balls of this stuff and for the last year I have been looking to buy more of it but I could never track it down online. Occasionally it would pop up on eBay but never in the beautiful Cobalt Blue that I had. I hoped it would stretch more, but once I got it on sticks I knew I'd be lucky to get a half a scarf at it. But I soldiered on and in two days completed this half of the scarf.

But GOOD NEWS! I went searching again on eBay yesterday and wouldn't you know there were 6 balls available from Quality Fibers Store. I bought four so I can finish my scarf and make a hat. I know the dye lot may not be a 100% but if it is terribly noticeable I'll frog my half o' scarf I currently have and make the scarf from the 4 balls I just bought and make the hat with the frogged remains. It will be harder to tell the dye lot is different from the hat to the scarf wouldn't it?

Anyways, good luck my knitta's on your Irish Hiking Scarves. You can read more about my IHS misadventures on my blog Knitting with a Vengeance. And I'll post again when I get my IHS finished.

Irish Hiking Hat #2 Completed

Here it is the Black Irish Hiking Hat for my husband.

I made the decreasing my own way as I wanted to maintain the K2 section all the way up.
Read about it in my blog: http://tricotine.typepad.com

Scarf & Wrist Warmers Done!

Here are 2 photos of the articles, after many months I have finally finished them.


An enjoyable pattern, for me this was my first cable experience. I get bored quickly so I did 1 or 2 repeats every now and then and it's now about 55" long. This will be a Christmas present for my sister.

My Irish Hiking Hat

I made it! An Irish Hiking Hat just for me! My IH Set is now complete!

Click on photo to go to the post about it in my blog...
As you can see, I modified the initial pattern a bit.

I am making the same hat in black for my Husband now...

OK, I'm on the hiking path now

It took me long enough, didn't it? Must've put the adorable button on my weblog page WEEKS ago, but last night was the first time I finally got down to the job and cast on for my own Irish Hiking Scarf. Here is the journey so far.



It's the Celtic Braid pattern from one of the Harmony Stitch Guides; it takes 25 stitches, so I used it twice with a tiny panel of 3 st st in the centre, a purl either side of each pattern panel, and two edge stitches, making 59 in all. Size 5 needles (Colonial Rosewood, absolutely and faraway my favourites - I get them from Warm Threads.

The yarn is that scrumptious blend of 50/50 cashmere and silk which I occasionally sell on eBay. It looks like grey string on the cone, and smells like the foulest manure heap when you wash it, but after that behaves like the thorough aristocrat it is. It will be beautifully silky and warm around the neck without the slightest risk of itchiness or overheating.

OK, so I know we're supposed to follow the original pattern but it didn't seem very challenging, and I wanted to try out the Celtic Braid so that's what I did.

How long are y'all making your scarves? Much as I'm enjoying the Celtic Braid (can see where it's going now, so don't have to keep that springy Harmony Guide weighted down at the right page any more), the spirit fails at the thought of endless yards of the same. Maybe I could follow the style in the One Skein book and make a rather elegantly short one, pinned on the shoulder with a small wooden knitting needle?

Your thoughts would be welcomed.

Jo
http://celticmemoryyarns.blogspot.com

C'est Finis!

It only took 11 months, but I finally finished my Irish Hiking Scarf!!

Irish Hiking Scarf Finished

My Irish Hiking Scarf in KnitPicks Swish Red Pepper is finished. It is for the Red Scarf Project.

IHS out and about

It's finally cold enough to bring my scarf around with me. I though this tree looked a bit chilly:

I did all of the knitting in August, but I only recently sewed in the ends. Blocking may or may not be in the works.

New to group...two on the sticks

I started two IHS on Saturday. With a skein of Cascade 220 in a tweedy blue/black purchased at knitting retreat and a skein of Patons Merino Wool in the stash, I'm off and running. I made one last year for a coworker and enjoyed the pattern. Having just finished a cardigan, a nice scarf will do for this week.

Sherrill
My Blog

First Cables Ever

I have loved working on this scarf! It is my first cable project ever and I was really intimidated. I started it last Sunday and it is coming along really quickly. I am using Caron Simply Soft. This one is for my girlfriend for Xmas but I will definitely have to make one for myself! Thanks for this knit-a-long!

I haven't started yet

I love the pictures of the scarves that I've seen so far. I haven't started mine yet, as I just can't decide what yarn to use. I am thinking that this weekend I might go pick up some natural wool from Ram Wools and try doing the kool-aid dyeing for the first time. Any suggestions? Do I knit the scarf first and then dye it or do I dye the yarn, then knit the scarf?

Any tips would be so very appreciated! I bought kool-aid last spring with the idea of dyeing some yarn, but haven't been brave enough to attempt it yet.

Sarah

Irish Hiking Scarf

I started my Irish Hiking cable scarf last Friday and have finished 40 repeats. This is a fun and fast pattern but I can only knit for a short time because of a fractured shoulder. Once it is finished, I hope to knit several more for gifts.
Notice the shorter needles? I bought them to knit the scarf and wristwarmers. They are Clover bamboo size US8 in the 9 inch length. The shorter needles are easier to use with my injury. I also finished another pair of wrist warmers in red. Hopefully I can finish another scarf in red to match the wrist warmers. Photos of the wristwarmers are on my blog - http://www.artseycrafts.blogspot.com/

IHS with Anna's Yarn

Hello,

My name is Vera, and my blog is Vera's Crafty Blog. I looked at all the scarves in the two years of this KAL, and I've really enjoyed checking out the scarves, hats, hand warmers, and other variations of this great pattern.

I started a Irish Hiking Scarf Sunday morning with some Anna's Yarn that I purchased from Liisu Yarns over two years ago.






The yarn is a goregous kid mohair/wool blend. The colors are lovely, and the yarn feels just great. I'm nearly halfway thru now.

I ordered more yarn to make a matching hat.

Finished :-)

I finished the knitting over a week ago, but just managed to work up the energy to weave in the ends last night. I love, love, love it... which means that I'll have to knit another one soon since I've already promised this one away as a gift!

It's knit on US size 8 needles using 4 skeins of Debbie Bliss Cotton Angora.

Husband finishes his IHS!

These are David's first cables--lovely and very even. Isn't the color perfect for him, too?

(Our 7yo son first taught him how to knit!)



More pictures and details on the blog.

Finished Scarf!

I suppose I joined this KAL a little bit late to get in on the WIP action, but there are more scarves planned for the future, so it's all good...

Here's my finished version of the IHS, made for my husband's birthday this year. I decided to modify the pattern and try a braided cable, which was relatively easy to do. I used Schachenmayr Alpaka and I must say that I'm quite pleased with the results!

If anyone is interested in trying the braided cable, let me know and I'll write out the pattern - it's quick and easy, I promise :)

ETA: Go to http://lackofalltrades.blogspot.com for the pattern - it's in the post from today, called "All Knitting, All the Time" (Sorry I'm not better with links)

My ears are itchy.

I finished my Irish Hiking headband this morning. It turned out very well. It didn't knit up quite as quickly as I thought it would but that's alright. (I used size 6US and did 15 repeats.)

I have enough of the yarn left to make something else, so another pair of Fetching might be in order. I've been wearing my orange ones a lot and need another pair that are slightly smaller. I have tiny hands and they're just a little large for me.

So far so good

Started the scarf this past weekend and made it this far. My first attempt at cables wasn't as bad as I thought it would be...