Palindrome Scarf and Hat

Since it is summer, it is obviously the perfect time to finish a knitted gift that can only be worn in the winter. I cast on the Palindrome Hat in December of 2017, thinking that I would finish it, along with the matching scarf, while it was still cold enough to wear it in the winter of 2018. That didn’t happen, and it wasn’t ready for the next winter either. But, it is finally done, and my friend will not go another winter season without her very own hand knitted hat and scarf.

The first thing that caught my attention about this pattern was the name. As an English major, I am always interested in names and descriptions referring to anything remotely literary. As the pattern designer notes on her page, a palindrome is the same forwards and backwards, making the name appropriate for anything reversable. Palindrome is a free pattern with reversable cables on the scarf and hat that are combined with all over 2X2 ribbing for a casual and classic look that I really like. For the hat and scarf together, I used about 3.5 skeins of Cascade Venezia Worsted which is 70% Marino wool and 30% silk. It is a really nice yarn, and I can’t wait to se how it holds up with time.

I knit the hat for this set before I knit the scarf. I especially like this hat pattern because the 2X2 ribbing makes it very stretchy, and it will fit over your head even if you tend to wear your hair pulled up like I do. The knitting for the hat went fairly quickly, and then it languished alone in a bag while waiting for its matching scarf to be finished.

However, the scarf took longer. It turns out that knitting a scarf is an interesting adventure in monotony. I ended up using a locking stitch marker pinned to the edge of the scarf to counteract the illusion that I was getting absolutely nowhere. By moving the marker every time I added 10 or 12 inches to the scarf, my brain understood that the scarf was indeed getting longer, and it would eventually be done. Also, I don’t often think about how long scarves really are. Approximately 6 feet, in case you also don’t think about such things. This one turned out to be 6 ½ feet, which is nice because there is plenty of length to wrap and still drape nicely.

A six-foot rectangle presents a challenge to blocking that I hadn’t thought of before this. The last time I made a scarf was just after I began knitting and long before I had a clue about blocking. Soon enough, I learned the error of my ways. For a long time after that, I used 2×2 exercise mats for blocking, but I decided to retire those and buy two sets of knitpicks blocking mats a few years ago. Those are only 12 inches square, which gives you more options when you lay them out. I lined up seven mats on a diagonal on my bed because small children and a dog make using the floor a bad idea in my house. I didn’t pin the scarf because I don’t want to stretch it, only to make sure it dries flat and strait. Just for kicks, I put the hat on its own separate square. Using the smaller mats really made me appreciate having the right tools for the job, and I might just stop resenting the storage space the mats take up in my closet.

I am pleased with the way this project turned out, and if you are interested in knitting this scarf and/or hat, follow the links below.

Link to Palindrome Scarf Pattern

Link to Palindrome Hat Pattern

Link to my Palindrome Project Page on Revelry