Dryad Scarf & Skiff Hat

Here’s another of the gifts I made this year! This one is a scarf and a hat that I knit for one of my favourite humans, my best friend Peter. I decided to make a Skiff hat, which I’ve made a couple times before. I made one for my uncle and aunt this year, in addition to the one below. And then I wanted to make a scarf to go with the hat. I went through the patterns at Brooklyn Tweed before settling on this one, called Dryad, which happened to be by the same designer as the hat (which explains why they go so well together).

The scarf took way longer than I expected. I somehow read the pattern wrong and thought that 12 repeats of the pattern would yield a satisfyingly long scarf, when in fact the pattern states that 12 repeats is the smallest recommended length, and the longer length would require 20. Which is what I ended up doing. But it was somehow more irritating because in my mind I had pictured being done after 12 times, and then it just took SO MUCH TIME. But it was worth it, because I think it looks great!

I lived in Toronto for three years, and am back here to visit over New Year’s and a bit into January (until school starts and I have to work again), so I at least had a bit of extra time until I had to finish the hat. After the scarf was done, I switched over to doing the hats for my aunt and uncle, which turned out to be a good idea since they went away for Christmas and I ended up having to deliver them sooner than expected. I wasn’t coming up to Toronto until the 28th, and I finished knitting the hat for Peter on Christmas Day. I blocked both of them the same day, and especially like what the blocking did for the scarf. It lays so much flatter than it did straight off the needles! The hat as well benefitted, as it allowed me to block the fold for the cuff in place, and it behaves very nicely.

It was kind of funny to photograph someone who’s not used to having their picture taken in this context. My sister has her own embroidery business and was completely comfortable in front of the camera when I was photographing the coat I made her. Peter wasn’t very comfortable being a model, and so our friend Connor (another bassist – basically we just only hang out with our own kind) jumped in and took a couple as well. They were very convinced that the best way to show the scarf was to hold it out in a dramatic fashion as though they were peddling wares at an old timey stall.

I love how the cabling looks! I’ve started my next knitting project already (I was just dying to start knitting something actually for me), and it also has cables. I may be cabled out for a while after I finish this current cabling project, but I’m super into the look. I messed up the over/under on a couple cables in this scarf, but I really don’t think it’s noticeable (although if you look really closely in the photo below, you might be able to see one of the discrepancies!). The scarf has intertwined cables down the middle, a twisted pair on each side, and then is edged with moss stitch which I had never done before, but really like the look of.

It was really fun to photograph one of my closest friends. I liked trying to make him feel comfortable so I could get some good shots that flattered both him and the scarf/hat. It’s also nice to have a bit of a break from only photos of me! I have one more post in the works about a gift from Christmas, and then it’ll be back to my selfish sewing/knitting ways. I’m excited to decide what to sew next – everything I’d been considering got put on the back burner and now I’m in a different sewing mood, so who knows what will happen! I might be in a finishing mood – I’ve had a couple things cut out for a while that might need to become actually clothes. Do any of you knit? I’m never sure how much overlap there is between garment makers and knitters, but I feel like there must be a sizeable chunk!