Scarf x cowl

I wanted a simple project on which to practice Irish cottage (lever) knitting using straights and involving both knitting and purling. There is not much of anything simpler than a scarf, so I grabbed some bits and bobs of Noro left over from another project and knit me a mistake rib scarf.

Since I was using bits and bobs, the color shifts are a bit abrupt, and since I was using left overs, the inevitable happened: I ran out of yarn before I ran out of scarf. So I decided to graft the two ends together, creating a loose cowl. I had not planned to do this in the first place, which meant I had to pick out the cast on. And then I realized I had no idea of how to graft ribbing, let alone mistake ribbing.

I did a little online research, which gave me some ideas, but after the scarf/cowl (scowl?) lay on the coffee table for a couple of weeks, I wound up grafting the ends like they were garter. Another thing I did not plan was beginning and ending with the same color, so that was just dumb luck.

Good enough.

Pattern: None. Cast on 39 stitches, knit mistake rib until you run out of yarn. Join the ends.
Yarn: Noro Kureyon, in colorway 284
Needles: US7

Greens and browns are not colors I usually wear, but after blocking the scarf, I spontaneously tried it on.

It's the perfect accompaniment to my green sweatshirt, especially since it is still ridiculously winterlike around here.