Monday, February 1, 2010

Milkshake reversible scarflet - a free pattern

A month or so before Christmas a small friend who sees me knitting all the time asked if I'd make him a white scarf.

Well, the very next day some super soft cream and blue superwash wool arrived in the mail from Midnight Sheep and I thought, Sort of white? You know, the way a blue tint makes grey hair look whiter? So I offered it and he said Perfect!

and I brought out my copy of Reversible Knitting and suggested lace to make the yarn go farther, and he picked a nice manly stitch I quickly figured out was impossible to fix mistakes in so I added a lifeline for ripping back to whenever disaster struck...

... and then it took me about 10 weeks to knit it because evidently I'm not such a great friend to small people with cold necks.

Also, Christmas panic knitting aside, it was around this time that I discovered Studio Ghibli films and it's hard to knit unfamiliar lace while your eyes are riveted to the screen. It's even harder to work on a project you associate with magical storytelling when you run out of magical stories.

I mention this because I swear some of that magic worked its way into the pattern: I can't help noticing that his finished scarf would make an awesome scarflet for a grownup like, say, me.


Yes, I'm that greedy: I'm thinking that when it's officially too small for him, I might be able to snag it back for myself. I do realize that nobody else who has read this far would even consider such a thing but, um, you should. Because you know those kids are going to outgrow your hard work. They just do. And then if they have the least chance they're going to start stealing the socks out of your drawer so you might just as well get your own back now.


Another plus: it really is reversible.



I don't know which side I like better, so I stitched on (purely for experimental purposes of course) two buttons, back to back, so you can button it on with either side showing.


This is something I love about lace in a hefty yarn: every hole is just made for slipping a button through, letting you play with different shapes and folds for hours of non-knitting fun.

About the name: yeah, well. Something about the whole experience of this scarf, the combination of yarn/colour/stitch/movie-watching, makes me think of those huge stainless-steel two-serving monsters that diners serve your vanilla milkshake in. Or, more accurately, the milkshake itself. Decadent, sweet, kinda frothy, entirely satisfying.

Try knitting one yourself and see what I mean!


Download .pdf of Milkshake Reversible Scarflet

20 comments:

Patricia said...

This scarf is beautiful! I just started knitting myself and this looks so much better than my plain "beginners" scarf. I'll have to try this pattern with the cute button added.

Mary Keenan said...

I'm so glad you like it! And that you like knitting :^)

Anonymous said...

I love this scarflet. The idea with the 2 buttons is great, and I have 2 old buttons from my Grandma's button box that would be perfect. When I went to the site to purchase the yarn, they were all sold out. Now what can I do? (Love your Blog!!)

Mary Keenan said...

Anonymous, e-mail the Midnight Sheep from her Etsyshop and she'll dye some just for you! How wonderful to use Grandma buttons - I so love a button with a good history :^)

Commonplace iris said...

very pretty and delicate looking, can't wait to give it a try, thank you

Anonymous said...

I'm putting all of my other projects on hold and starting this one... how can I resist?! I don't get the name, but the scarf is simply beautiful - delicate, lady-like and soooo romantic!

Mary Keenan said...

The name is a stretch, I know... I just kept thinking about ice cream whenever I looked at it, so eventually I gave in ;^)

Anonymous said...

Hi - it's said free but lists a price of $#. is it free?

pzoed2008@yahoo.com

Mary Keenan said...

Milkshake is definitely free! Maybe you were thinking of the Candy Wrapper, which is also a scarflet? That one is a for-sale pattern.

JenniferQKW said...

I'd like to make an adult-size, but not maybe the whole 57-stitch cast-on. I shall study the pattern repeat, and if you have any clues, please lmk.
Jenn

Mary Keenan said...

Jennifer, the repeat is a multiple of 4 sts plus 5 (for the edges) - hope that helps!

Anonymous said...

Very pretty. Do you have a crochet pattern for this scraf?

Mary Keenan said...

Nope - never learned to crochet!

Jacklou said...

Beautiful scarf. Like I need something else to knit. Oh well, what is life for.

Debbie said...

Since it is reversible did you do double knitting.

Mary Keenan said...

Debbie, the reversible aspect is that either side of the pattern could serve as the 'right' side.
No double knitting! I still need to learn that one ;^)

teariana said...

Thank you! I'm always on the lookout for different but fairly easy patterns, this looks great and definitely lacy, some "lacy" patterns just aren't. I also love that you did the pdf, thank you, thank you. I also like that it's not worked up on circulars, though I want to use circulars they're just not in my budget, hey, cool yarn is way more important, right?

Mary Keenan said...

Cool yarn is everything teariana ;^) Glad you like the pattern!

Unknown said...

I just came across this pattern. I have some Suri Alpaca that I just finished spinning and I think this would work out very well. Thank You!!!!

Mary Keenan said...

That's so lucky Unknown - glad it's useful!