Backyard Leaves, One Third Done

Post 2 of 5 for the Backyard Leaves Scarf Contest.
Leave a comment on this post within seven days of post date and you will be entered into a drawing for the completed scarf.

Complete list of rules and procedures is here. (No reason to read them unless you are interested.)

The pattern is Backyard Leaves from Scarf Style, designed by Annie Modesitt.

The yarn is Andean Silk from Knitpicks, color Lettuce.

Previous post showing start of scarf is here.

After the first eight rows to set up the alternating leaf pattern, the pattern repeat is twenty rows. This picture shows both pieces of the scarf with four of the eleven pattern repeats completed.

The row stitch count is far from constant. The longest row is 38 stitches, the shortest row is 28 stitches. The three beginning and ending stitches on each row remain in the same slip stitch pattern to provide a neat border.

So far I don't have the stitch pattern memorized, although I am able to tell immediately if I happen to get a stitch off or accidently start knitting the wrong row.

With seven more pattern repeats to knit on each piece, I'm curious if I'll learn the stitch pattern by memory before I'm done. It's not a fast knit so I don't feel the chart is slowing me down too much. If I do memorize the stitch pattern, it will be from repetition, not from conscious effort.

The three edge stitches on each side are done in a slip stitch pattern which serves to make the edges very stable and a little tighter than the leaf part of the pattern.

The slip stitch border is what makes the scarf special. It intensifies the three dimensional look of the leaves by causing them to pop up. It also keeps the edges from rolling.

For those who need a comment prompt, here's a question: If you were knitting this scarf, would you memorize the 20 row stitch pattern so you could knit without looking at the pattern?