Carri Hammett - Scarves and shawls for yarn lovers: knitting with simple patterns and amazing yarns

Scarves and Shawls for Yarn Lovers

KNITTING WITH SIMPLE PATTERNS AND AMAZING YARNS

Carri Hammett

Copyright 2010, 2011
The paperback edition published in 2010
Creative Publishing international, Inc.
First published in the United States of America by
Creative Publishing international, Inc., a member of
Quayside Publishing Group
400 First Avenue North
Suite 300
Minneapolis, MN 55401
1-800-328-3895
www.creativepub.com
All rights reserved

Photographers: Steve Galvin, Corean Komarec, Andrea Rugg, Joel Schnell
Book Design: Lois Stanfield

Acknowledgments

So many people have inspired me and helped me to write this book. I owe my thanks to my employees who had the patience of saints, to my customers and friends who inspired me with their ideas and creativity, and to my teachers who so generously shared their knowledge.

Most especially I want to thank my family members who give their love so freely. Your tolerance and humor, as always, have kept me going, and I promise I will clean the house someday. REALLY!

ISBN-13: 978-1-58923-526-7
ISBN-10: 1-58923-526-6

Digital edition: 978-1-61059-603-9
Softcover edition: 978-1-58923-257-0

The Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition as follows:

Hammett, Carri.
Scarves and shawls for yarn lovers : knitting with
simple patterns and amazing yarns /
Carri Hammett.
p. cm.
ISBN-13: 978-1-58923-257-0 (hardcover)
ISBN-10: 1-58923-257-7 (hardcover)
1. Knitting--Patterns. 2. Scarves. 3. Shawls.
I. Title.
TT825.H2565 2006
746.4320432--dc22 2006002493

Printed in China
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

For any of the fabulous yarns used in these
projects, or to make inspired choices of your own,
visit Carris shop or Web site:
Coldwater Collaborative
347 Water Street
Excelsior, MN 55331
www.coldwateryarn.com

Also check these yarn company Web sites:
Berroco - www.berroco.com
Blue Heron Yarns - www.blueheronyarns.com
Blue Sky Alpacas - www.blueskyalpacas.com
Caron - www.caron.com
Classic Elite Yarns - www.classiceliteyarns.com
Colinette - www.uniquekolours.com
Crystal Palace - www.crystalpalaceyarns.com
Di.ve - www.cascadeyarn.com
Fiesta Yarns - www.fiestayarns.com
Filati FF - www.knittingfever.com
Filatura di Crosa - www.tahkistacycharles.com
Great Adirondack Yarn - www.yarnrep.com
Habu Textiles - www.habutextiles.com
Ironstone Yarns - www.yarnrep.com
Jade Sapphire - www.jadesapphire.com
Katia - www.knittingfever.com
Laines du Nord - www.knittingfever.com
Lana Grossa - www.lanagrossa.de
Lion Brand - www.lionbrand.com
Madil Yarns - www.cascadeyarn.com
Manos del Uruguay - Design Source 888-566-9970
Moda Dea - www.modadea.com
Muench Yarns/GGH - www.muenchyarns.com
Nashua Handknits - www.westminsterfibers.com
On Line - www.knittingfever.com
Plymouth - www.plymouthyarn.com
Queensland Collection - www.knittingfever.com
S. Charles Collezione - www.tahkistacycharles.com
South West Trading Company - www.soysilk.com
Trendsetter - www.trendsetteryarns.com
Wool in the Woods - www.woolinthewoods.com

Due to differing conditions, materials, and skill levels, the publisher and various manufacturers disclaim any liability for unsatisfactory results or injury due to improper use of tools, materials, or information in this publication.

All rights reserved. No part of this work covered by the copyrights hereon may be reproduced or used in any form or by any meansgraphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping of information on storage and retrieval systemswithout the written permission of the publisher.

Carri Hammett is the owner of Coldwater Collaborative, a gem of a yarn shop in Excelsior, Minnesota. Forever a fiber fiend, Carri uses her creativity and strong color sense in weaving, quilting, and, of course, knitting. She loves to teach people about knitting and really enjoys helping customers with challenging projects. Carri lives in Minnesota with her husband, two of her three kids, and a dog with whom she has a love-hate relationship.

When customers come into my shop, they are often dazzled by the yarns. The space is full of textures and colors in endless variety. There are solid, self-striping, variegated, and hand-dyed yarns. There are classic yarns, luxury yarns, and novelty yarnswool, silk, cashmere, ribbon, eyelash, and chenille.

Yarns today are amazing, but all those choices can feel overwhelming. As a shop owner, its my job to help customers make their selections. I tell them there is no single choice for any project, but there are definitely good and even better choices. The right choice will be a yarn that you absolutely love, and that your project will show off to its best advantage.

While many books and patterns focus on complicated stitch patterns, Ive found that simple stitches often show off fabulous yarns better. Certain stitches will enhance the beauty of certain fibers especially well. For example, seed stitch is an excellent choice for ribbon yarn because it allows more of the ribbon to be seen. A complicated stitch isnt worth the effort when working with highly textured yarn since the pattern wont be seen anyway.

For exploring new yarns, scarves and shawls are ideal projects. Scarves are simple by nature, with no worries about fit or sizing. Youve probably already made one scarfor dozensso you can concentrate on the yarn instead of learning lots of new techniques. Scarves are small-scale projects, too, so you can try a new stitch or a new yarn without investing a lot of your time or money. Speaking of money, a scarf takes less yarn than a sweater or throw, so go ahead and try that luxury yarn youve been worshipping.

Ive designed twenty scarves and shawls that match a wonderful yarn or combination of yarns with a simple design. Ill share why I think the match is a good one so you can enhance your own knitting knowledge. For each project, Ive also designed a variation with the same stitch pattern and very different yarn. The difference the yarn makes is fascinating and often dramatic.

ABOUT THE PROJECTS

The book starts with the simplest stitch pattern, then introduces new techniques with each project, often building on skills introduced earlier. Nothing is difficulteven a beginner can knit anything in the book.

If youre a new knitter, you will find it easiest to start at the beginning of the book and knit your way through it. If a particular project doesnt appeal to you, I suggest you read through the directions anyway and practice the techniques with scrap yarns. For a review of basic stitches, go to Knitting 101 in the back of the book. If you are a more experienced knitter, you can make the scarves in any order.

When a project introduces a technique or stitch pattern that is new to you, go to the Knitting Class in that project for step-by-step instructions and photographs. The Knitting Class topics are: