Some Assistance Please
My little brother was the only member of my immediate family who didn't receive a handknit for Christmas and my mom suggested that maybe I should make him a scarf for his birthday in February and I'm thinking this is a good idea, but I have some concerns and I'm hoping the handful of people who occasionally stumble on my blog might be able to offer some yarn suggestions (preferably something I have in stash, since I'm trying the whole knit from stash thing, but since it'd be for a gift, i'd be willing to use an exception or my Michael's gift card to aquire something else).
Concern #1 - my little brother is 6'7". If I go with the scarf length = person's height, that's one freakishly long scarf. So really fine guage yarns are pretty much out of the question if I want to dream of finishing something ever. I didn't do the height thing with dad's scarf and it still looks good at the length it is, but I think a longer one would be better for Adam.
Concern #2 - while they aren't bad now, my brother did have a lot of animal allergies as a kid. So I don't know how sensative he is to animal fiber content in a scarf. A plant-based fiber or animal/acrylic blend is probably best, although I could potentially use up some 100% acrylic too.
Concern #3 - he overheats easilly. He went to college way up in the upper tip of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and currently lives in Minnesota, and yet I know that even in a very cold environment he often doesn't zip up his coat when going outside for short periods of time. And ANY time he's active no matter the temperature, the boy is drenched in sweat. So this points me more in the non-animal-based fibers direction.
So, if you wanted to make a super long minimal-animal-ish scarf for someone who overheats easilly, what yarn would you use?
Concern #1 - my little brother is 6'7". If I go with the scarf length = person's height, that's one freakishly long scarf. So really fine guage yarns are pretty much out of the question if I want to dream of finishing something ever. I didn't do the height thing with dad's scarf and it still looks good at the length it is, but I think a longer one would be better for Adam.
Concern #2 - while they aren't bad now, my brother did have a lot of animal allergies as a kid. So I don't know how sensative he is to animal fiber content in a scarf. A plant-based fiber or animal/acrylic blend is probably best, although I could potentially use up some 100% acrylic too.
Concern #3 - he overheats easilly. He went to college way up in the upper tip of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and currently lives in Minnesota, and yet I know that even in a very cold environment he often doesn't zip up his coat when going outside for short periods of time. And ANY time he's active no matter the temperature, the boy is drenched in sweat. So this points me more in the non-animal-based fibers direction.
So, if you wanted to make a super long minimal-animal-ish scarf for someone who overheats easilly, what yarn would you use?
posted by Beth at 9:45 AM
2 Comments:
Beth - I knit a scarf for my reasonably tall brother (6' 3") for Christmas. I had always heard the scarf-as-long-as-tall rule, but my dad pointed out this is probably only useful for women. I knit my brother's scarf to be about 5'. It wraps once around his neck and is long enough to tuck into the coat without being too "girlie". So don't panic about 6'7" of scarf. That's probably overkill.
As for fiber content, I don't know what you've got in the stash there, but if he easily overheats, I'd suggest a cotton/wool blend. There are a bunch out there and it probably has the breathability factor that acrylic and other synthetics don't. For a cheap option, maybe Knitpicks "Mainline" (although I've never used it).
Hope this helps!
Have you seen the Patons SWS? it's a Soy, Wool, Silk mix. You can buy it at Michaels and Joanns for about 5-6 dollars a skein. It's really nice - and feels soft and more expensive than it is. It comes in come great colors too - like a variagated Navy that would be perfect for a guys' scarf. I have you seen the My So Called Scard pattern? That may be a good pattern for that yarn. Good luck!
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