::Knitting:: Reader Request - Balmain Scarf

I got a lovely email this morning from Sue in Western Australia wanting the pattern for the ruffled Balmain Scarf I showed you in my last post. It was from the Better Homes and Gardens Bumper Knitting Book.

Sooo much ruffle!

The trick to the Balmain Scarf is the yarn-Katia's Park Avenue. There's not much to the pattern however I'll give you a couple of details.

• Measurement: Length about 160cm
• Supplies: Katia Park Avenue (75g): 1 Ball (for the version in the book they used colour 106); 7mm knitting needles; wool needle; 40cm waste yarn or sewing thread in same colour as yarn. 
• Tension: Correct tension is not required for this piece.

In the book they start off by saying,
   Undo skein and retie the knotted ends neatly.

I found the cast on and the instructions a bit confusing. So I found some videos instead :)

Firstly there is the one from Better Homes and Gardens here.

And then I thought what better place to look for resources on how to knit with Katia yarn than the Katia website. Katia have a fantastic pair of videos that show you how to knit AND crochet with their yarn. They also have a handy PDF with illustrated written instructions too.

There's also a vids on YouTube. This one is from Halcyon Yarn.


So that's the middle bit covered off in video form. You knit this way until you reach the end of the ball.

In the book it says to do the following to finish,
Cast off as foll: Sl 2 sts from LH needle * to RH needle, then pass outside st over inside st.* Sl rem st from LH needs and re from * to *. Using wast yarn or thread, overstitch last st to WS of scarf end. Neaten edges of other scarf end by folding and sew in a similar manner. Shake out the work to get the full effect of the ruffles.

And there you have it. I hope this helps you Sue, and anyone else who wants to knit the scarf.

Until next time, I hope you have something lovely to knit or crochet,
Vanessa xo