Leafy Paree

Waiting for a table at London's Green Door Restaurant. While strangers think the American chick at the bar is a twinkie for snapping a picture of her scarf. Oh, 'scuse me, I mean cravat.

The third and last of my pre-vaca FOs was a last minute decision. I decided to knit a scarf to match my Gwennabie hat because I'm just that big a geek. With time and leftover yarn in limited supply, a full scarf was quite out of the question, so I flipped through my back issues of IK and honed right in on the Leaf Cravat. Thinner, shorter, cute, and simple. Ding!

Pattern thoughts
This was my first foray into knitting by chart. (I do have the Embossed Leaves socks on the needles, but I wrote out the chart by hand.) It was an easy entry, seeing as how all of the even rows are the same repeat. That being said, I find written instructions easier to follow. At the beginning of each row, I had to stop, put down the sticks, and count the boxes. It wasn't a large or particularly intricate chart, so it wasn't *too* bad, but still a PITA. Hopefully that will change in time?

If you've knit this pattern or seen it around, you'll notice mine is missing the end leaves. I tried knitting those in the white, but it looked like crap. And, as I didn't have enough blue left, decided to ditch the leafy tags and knit just the main rectangle.

Other than that, I followed the pattern as written. And blocked it within an inch of its life to add as much length as possible. It ended up being juuuuust long enough to wrap around once and tie, or do the Parisian fold-and-tuck.

Yarn thoughts
Pretty much summed up my Karabella love in the hat write-up, but wanted to note here that I used less than one ball for this project.

Final thoughts
This was a fun pattern! The repetitive even rows keep it simple, but lacy odd rows keep it interesting. Plus, it's short and skinny enough to keep the scarf lobotomy at bay. It kept me nice and warm throughout our trip, from rain to chilly winds that could freeze fire.

Leafy Paree
Pattern: Leaf Cravat, IK Winter 02/03
Yarn: Karabella Aurora 8 in Blue Topaz
Needle: Holz & Stein ebony 7, 16"
Mods: Ditched the leafy ends
Lesson learned: Reading charts will get easier. In time. I hope.