Double-sided Knitting

Last year I did a search on Etsy looking for a pattern to do a shamrock scarf for St. Patrick's Day.  I was successful in finding one that I purchased for a few dollars.  At the time I had no clue what double-sided knitting was so I did some research, watched a couple YouTubes and was good to go.  The concept is that you cast on with two colors, knit with one and purl with the other and get a reversible scarf with a sweet pattern. 

As I've said before, getting started on projects is tough for me.  The original shamrock pattern I purchased ended up being far too wide of a project.  I was able to copy it into excel and alter the pattern for something more my style.  By playing with the size of the cells, I was able to create a template for future ideas that will transfer easily to the knit stitches rather than looking distorted.

The original scarf took me quite a while because it was my first one and I didn't have great technique.  However, since then I have had great successes....

I made this for my sister and she wore it for St. Patrick's Day 2011.  The number of compliments she received was overwhelming in addition to people wanting to purchase one!  One alteration I would make is the type of yarn I used.  It was a little thicker and not as "floppy" as some of the others but LOVED the colors together.

I mention my sister a lot...and I make her a lot of things.  We are huge Detroit Tiger fans so late September she asked me to make her another scarf, this time with the Olde English D.  After some Googling, I found a pattern that someone used to embroider the D into a pair of mittens.  Again, I copied the sketch into my Excel spreadsheet and made some alterations.  I had to finish this scarf on our way to ALCS Game 5 with Verlander on the mound against the Rangers (they won that game, but lost the series). 

Unlike the shamrock, the D is not reversible.  The backside of this scarf is white with a blue D but the D is backwards.  Not something we thought of while designing.  We go to a lot of baseball games and they aren't always warm so I know my sister will get tons of use out of this accessory.  Also, I used a different yarn with this scarf and liked it a lot better.  The yarn was thinner and provided more flexibility when wearing it (not as stiff). 

After my mom saw the D scarf she suggested I make my father a University of Michigan "M" scarf.  The M is easy...back to my template to design my stitching.  However, this time I wanted to do a little something different with the rest of the scarf.  Both the shamrock and the D had plain necks.  Originally I thought of doing horizontal stripes but decided that would take counting rows.  I went for vertical stripes instead.  I wanted to use the same yarn I used for the D scarf.  No place in town had the yellow I was looking for so I had to order online.

I'm really happy with how this turned out.  There were a few spots on the top and bottom of the M that I could have added an extra stitch for effect so will make notes for that the next time.  Just to give you an idea, here's how double sided knitting works.

When you cast on, you will use both colors held together.  Your first row you will knit one color and purl the other.  As you can see in the photo, your colors will be every other.  Remember, one blue and one yellow = 1 stitch.  If you knit a blue, you must purl a yellow to complete the stitch.  The best way for  me to know which one I need to knit and which one I need to purl is this: knit the color you want to have FACING you.  If you are switching colors, like where the M is yellow on the blue backing, you knit all the yellow stitches so you can see the yellow M.

As you can see, holding the two yarns can be a bit of a challenge.  In the top picture I am purling the yellow and in the bottom I am knitting the blue.  Again, once you develop a technique that works for you, it goes smoothly.  Every few rows I have to stop to untwist the two colors as the back and forth of knitting and purling tangles them.  These scarves also take a long time to work on because there is the constant back and forth of knitting and purling as well as working twice as many stitches as you would for a normal scarf.

I'll let you know how dad likes his scarf...he goes to quite a few games each year so hopefully it will come in handy!  Also, if you are interested in any of my pattern designs let me know and I'd be happy to email them along.  I already have an idea for a red and green Christmas tree for next year and would love a Tiger D scarf for myself!  A few more projects for the holidays before starting on a blanket to go along with furniture on order for our front room!

Edit: here is the M pattern in excel: