The Minnie Scarf: a potato chip project

Over the past several months, I've been industriously piecing tops and quilting quilts. With the few cold, winter-like days that popped up in December, however, my fingers started itching for yarn and a pair of knitting needles...

"Minnie Scarf" in Poems Chunky by Universal Yarn.

... so my quilt guild's annual holiday dinner and "handmade" gift exchange was the perfect occasion to scratch that itch. (Besides, there was a deadline.)

Are your knittin' fingers itchin' for some stitchin'? If so, then try Annie Lee's "Minnie Scarf" at Jumpercables Knitting. It's a fast and fun knit that makes a great gift for you or someone else. This one here—in shades of pink—was made with 2 balls of Poems Chunky [Universal Yarn] in the Mantra 904 colorway.

Good ol' garter stitch shines in this project. The yarn's color changes provide a tweedy look because of garter's purl bumps, but a solid color yarn would do justice to this project as well. Garter makes the piece reversible, lie flat, and is a great TV-knitting stitch pattern with a plush "squishy" texture—especially with Poems Chunky. The end-of-row bobbles keep the knitter from nodding off and bring a delightful decorative edge to this wedge-shaped, cool-weather accessory.

The Minnie is also a "potato chip" project—you can't make just one. Here are other versions and the multiple ways of wearing it. My multi-colored version (this scarf is for me) uses leftover bits of Poems Chunky (various colorways) wet-spliced together. The blue version is knit with a worsted weight Classic Shades [Universal Yarn] and a carry-along sock yarn from Regia in a Kaffe Fassett colorway. Both weights of yarn were held together to simulate a thicker, chunky weight yarn.

How can you wear this asymmetrical scarf? So many options:

Minnie Scarf: with or without a shawl collar.

Minnie Scarf: with a shawl pin closure.

Minnie Scarf: over the shoulder or both tails in the front.

Minnie Scarf: as a neck scarf or a shoulder wrap.

 And I guess you could wear it with the pico edge up???

In the blue version, a variegated sock yarn added the color changes to the monochromatic blue Classic Shades worsted weight yarn. This way, I could use the same needle size as when I knit Minnie in the chunky weight. Annie Lee's pattern calls for Aran weight—yet another possibility!

Yarns used for my Minnie versions: Poems Chunky
and Classic Shades carried with Regia sock yarn.

This week, my knitting students and I also had a holiday get-together. Of course, everyone brought Show and Tell... sweaters, scarves, hats, cowls, wraps... with slip stitch and texture patterns, color work, lace... we were all so impressed with each other's creations! Maybe there will be some Minnie Scarves added to the collection... or better yet... under the tree and in stockings this season.