So, Olivia wanted an infinity scarf. She wears a store-bought one from Urban Outfitters almost non-stop, and she liked the idea of a warmer one for those endless weeks of New York winter. We dove into the stash together and emerged with two skeins of Madelinetosh Sock yarn, in a gorgeous emerald colorway called Kelp. I had originally bought the yarn thinking of a scarf for Olivia. She has a warm, tropical island-girl complexion that looks great with many colors, including the greens that never fail to make me look wan and sickly.

When I knitted my first infinity scarf for her sister last year, I made the mistake of making it too long. This time I eliminated a good 50 stitches and cast on a total of 450. Olivia is a knitter herself and she knows what she likes: she asked for seed stitch. I couldn't fathom knitting 450 stitches in the round, in seed stitch, for however long it would take. We had a deadline after all: the thing had to be finished and blocked by the time she flew back to school. So I alternated strips of seed stitch with much faster, automatic-knitting of stockinette. This was totally improvised on the needle.

Once blocked, the scarf measured close to 90". Ridiculously long. It looks best when the loop is tripled around the neck. The fabric is wonderfully drapey and the expanse of handpainted solid emerald-green truly looks like a painted canvas. The richness of the color just cannot be put into words. Apparently, it cannot be photographed accurately either: just know that it registers as much greener in real life.

I see more infinity scarves/cowls in my near future. Next time I won't allow myself to cast on more than 360 stitches, tops. Feel free to snatch the needles off my hands if you see me casting on like a maniac.

Comments

[Meredith]

Love it, and she looks adorable in it. I think a seed stitch only scarf of the length would make me want to shoot my head off. You did the perfect thing breaking it up.
Have a great day,
Meredith

[Cathy]

The last infinity scarf you made spurred me into action. I cast 450 stitches with fingering weight yarn & knit the linen stitch for about 7". Once I got the pattern established, it wasn't bad. It made simple, mindless knitting on the porch swing in July when it was too hot to knit much else.