Not Martha

to make: organic cotton man scarf

I made this scarf as a Christmas present for my father. He recycles like crazy, has a worm farm, buys organic and even drives a Prius. And, this is where I get it from, he cannot wear wool. So when I felt this Inca Cotton yarn I knew it was perfect – this is made from orgainic, unbleached, undyed cotton, the colors are the natural color of the plant. And it is remarkably soft, much softer than you would expect a cotton yarn to be.
This is a slub yarn, it alternates thick and thin. It makes a soft, puffy fabric with a good amount of weight.

pattern, sort of:

2 skeins Inca Cotton, Joseph Galler Yarns, color OZ (will have plenty left over, and one skein would be enough to make a good sized scarf, make it narrower)
size 6 US needles

– cast on 62 stitches (or an even number to make it however wide you’d like)
– knit in single rib, knit one, purl one, all the way across, you will end on a purl one
– I knit fairly loosely
– knit until aoubt 72 inches long
– cast off loosely

If you want you can do a rib cast on and off, I didn’t and you can see the detail of the end – it splayed out a bit. I didn’t do an edgestitch of any kind.

Note the half of a wine bottle cork used as a stitch holder. Worked really well.

It was about 8″ wide and 72″ long.
very long
The yarn formed a bumpy surface, which I really liked. I only messed up once in this entire scarf (I’m so proud of myself) – I knit when I was supposed to purl. So if he gets bored he can go looking for the one odd bump.
It fit perfectly into a box from The Container Store.

9 Comments

9 responses so far ↓

  • 1 Suzy // Dec 13, 2006 at 11:45 am

    LOVE this! AND it’s vegan! Beautiful pattern, too!

  • 2 Heidi // Jan 13, 2007 at 2:52 pm

    This is a great scarf. It’s something even I can make. Is every row the K1 P1? I’m a new knitter and just want to make sure.

  • 3 Roberta // Apr 5, 2007 at 11:57 am

    who manufactures and or distributes the inca cotton yarn?

  • 4 Lesli // Sep 14, 2007 at 1:07 pm

    For people interested, I love this yarn and looked it up on eBay. Someone there is selling tons of it for only about $13 per skein instead of almost $20 on the link above.

  • 5 Maire // Nov 17, 2008 at 2:13 am

    Yea!! At last I know what to give my father for Christmas! Thanks so much.

  • 6 Kim // Nov 29, 2008 at 10:51 pm

    Need some finishing advice. I’m a new knitter and I picked this pattern to make for my (very tall) son for Christmas. It’s almost finished! So, do I wash and block it? Is that a necessary step, or is it good to go as soon as I cast off? I’m very excited about this project. The yarn is soooo soft. I know he’ll like it.

  • 7 megan // Nov 30, 2008 at 9:59 am

    Kim – I don’t bother blocking cotton although you can if you want. I made this pattern ribbed on purpose so that the sides and ends would not curl. Best of luck!

  • 8 Kim // Dec 29, 2008 at 11:15 am

    Thank you for the beautiful pattern, Megan. I finished it in time for Christmas and it was a big hit. One question: is there anything to be done about the shedding? The cotton leaves white fibers clinging to everything. Is there some way to defuzz it?

  • 9 Maria // Jan 31, 2009 at 2:05 pm

    Love the scarf and yarn but would also like to know answers to the comments posted.

    Thanks.

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