My friend Tara, for whom I made this hat, met me for lunch the other day at a cafe near the local yarn shop. She went with me after we ate to just browse through the yarn, and ended up purchasing some yarn and a pattern booklet for me to make her a second item! The yarn is K’acha from Mirasol Yarn (of merino, alpaca, and silk) in shade 1201:
What a lovely color for fall! The yarn is listed on Ravelry as being DK weight but it seems more like a heavy worsted as I’m working. Anyway, Tara bought 4 skeins to be sure there was enough for the whole project.
The shawl/scarf is called “bajada,” it is knit on size 8 straight needles, and is more crescent shaped than triangle shaped.
I would like a similarly shaped shawl/scarf myself, but I don’t think it’ll be another one of these — this pattern is so hard! You have to have your eyes glued to the booklet instructions — every row of small print contains a different combination of “stitch pattern A” and “stitch pattern B” so you have to pay careful attention! In fact, I couldn’t keep track of it all in my head so I wrote out the combinations for each row (as well as reminders to increase every 4th row) on notebook paper and am checking them off as I go. I think that’s what makes it hard (that and the time it’s taken to get where I am), because the stitches themselves aren’t too crazy. The weirdest stitch so far has been purling 2 through the back loops. Here’s what I’ve done:
Not very impressive yet, as it’s such a small amount of the finished product, but I’m proud of it nonetheless for all the time and effort it is taking. When it is blocked the lacy edges will appear more obviously, I assume. There have been a couple of scary points where I’ve had less stitches after a row than I should, and having to go back to fix it is terrifying — I’m not at all sure that I’m undoing some of the stitches properly! Looks OK so far, though.
Well, that’s all for today. Thanks so much for stopping by!
not your average crochet 
After the first one, the second would be easier since you would know what you’re getting into. 😀
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That’s true. It’s just gonna have to be on an ambitious knitting day (as opposed to a lazy knitting day, which is most of my days). 🙂
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Absolutely gorgeous! I love the color which is perfect with that beautiful auburn hair. Good Job YOU!
Carmeen
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The finished article on the pattern looks lovely so I’m sure all your efforts will be worthwhile. I’m looking foreward to an update.
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ALso looking forward to an update, it’s a stunning scarf — but i don’t think I would be up to the required level of commitment, I’m too much into near-instant gratification. Plus I like to watch Dexter or Orange is the New Black while my hands are working away 🙂
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Thanks! That’s usually me too — I keep trying to watch a tv show that I’ve seen already but it keeps making me lose count!
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I know what you mean about “ambitious knitting days” and “lazy knitting days”. I have crochet versions of those! It’s looking great.
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Goodness, what a project. We all learn through pushing ourselves. You’ll be an expert at the end of this!
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It’s looking great! And I love the nice fall color. This is the kind of pattern that I like. Something to keep my brain thinking and a lovely pattern when I am done. Most times the traditional knit and purl and rib and seed stitches are so boring for me. I will check this pattern out. Thanks for sharing.Oh…and once you get a good chunk of the scarf done, the pattern will start to come more automatically to you. And when you are at near the end of the project, you will know the pattern by heart.
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