Bella Lana: Beautiful Yarn

Cornelia, recently back from the Emerald Isle, has scored a recipe for Irish scones from the Ulster Canal Tea Room in Clones (home to the finest Irish crochet lace).  Here it is:

Vera’s Traditional Irish Scones
from
Ulster Canal House and Tea Room in Clones, Ireland

16 oz. self-rising flour
4 oz. margarine
4 oz. sugar
2 eggs
¼ pint milk
1 cup currants, cherries, or apricots

Preheat oven on full heat. Turn down to 175° when scones go in.

Sieve flour, then sugar into bowl, then add eggs and margarine, mix well. Add milk. (Milk can vary, if too wet add flour, if dry add milk). Then mix in fruit.

Cook for 25 to 30 minutes at 175°

Vera’s recipe adapted for America

2 cups self-rising flour  (unsifted)
1 stick butter
¼ cup sugar
1 egg
½ cup milk
1 cup currants

Preheat oven to 450°.

Sift flour and sugar into bowl.
Cut in butter with fork.
Add egg and work in.
Add milk, a little at a time, until dough is the consistency of biscuit dough.
Cut out 10 to 12 3” scones.

Place scones on baking sheet, lower oven to 175° and bake 25 to 30 minutes.
The tops don’t brown so don’t overcook.

Cool and enjoy.

Makes 10 to 12 scones.

Note: Check expiration date on flour for freshness in order to ensure proper rising.

I used a pattern I found on Ravelry – “Three Seas Cowl” by Christina Stork – and knit it up in Tilli Tomas Pure Cashmere.  I used 2 skeins on a size 6 needle.  It feels like heaven.  The people at Tilli Tomas spun it especially for us.  Last year I knit a one-skein lace scarf in a cream color cashmere.  It’s been sitting on display and handled frequently.  It still looks great – no pilling and a really gorgeous “bloom”.  This pattern was fun to knit – no stress and it moved right along.

KB

Disco is a wonderful yarn to knit with during the warmer months.  It’s also a great yarn for Holiday gifts, for those of you who are thinking ahead.  It’s shown here in a silvery color called “Atmosphere”.  I knit this scarf using a simple drop stitch, which gives a lacy effect without the difficulty of lace knitting.  One skein will knit into a long, showy scarf.  Two skeins are sufficient for a shawl.  Or . . . take a look at the wonderful patterns on the Tilli Tomas website: http://www.tillitomas.com/.

KB

This scarf knits up fast in a very simple ribby-lacy pattern.  I knit it in bright red Debbie Bliss Como, but it would also be great in Blue Sky Alpacas Bulky or Cascade Lana Grande.  I made it very long and added a six inch fringe.  The pattern follows.

KB

Bella Lana Speedo Scarf

Finished Size:

6” wide by 68” long plus optional 6” fringe at each end

Materials:

• Debbie Bliss Como (4 balls)
• Size 15 needles

Abbreviations:

CO:                Cast on
K:                   Knit
K2tog:           Knit 2 stitches together
YO:                 Yarn over

Directions:

Cast on 13 stitches.

Pattern Row: K1, YO, K2tog

Repeat this row to desired length.  Bind off.

Add fringe if desired.  For 6” fringe wrap yarn around 8” piece of cardboard 4 times and cut.  Use crochet hook to secure to end of scarf.  Cut end of fringe – this creates an 8-strand fringe about 6” long.  Make 6 for each end of scarf.

This scarf is knit in a wonderful yarn – Misti Alpaca Chunky.  It’s about 48″ long by 4″ wide, so it’s not a huge scarf and it knits up fast.  It is, however, exceptionally soft and warm and it’s appropriate for both men and women.  It’s shown here in a lighter gray, but it would look great in a brighter color or a multi.

CG

Here’s the pattern:

Bella Lana Reversible Cable Scarf

Finished Size:

4” wide by 50” long

Materials:

• Misti Alpaca Chunky (2 skeins)
• Size 11 Needles
• Cable Needle

Directions:

Cast on 32 stitches.

Rows 1 to 8: K2 P2 to end

Row 9:  Slip first 8 stitches to cable needle, hold in front, K2 P2 eight stitches from the left needle, K2 P2 eight stitches from cable needle, K2 P2 to end of row.

Rows 10 to 17:  K2 P2 to end

Row 18: Slip first 8 stitches to cable needle, hold in back, K2 P2 eight stitches from the left needle, K2 P2 eight stitches from cable needle, K2 P2 to end of row.

Repeat these 18 rows to desired length.  Bind off in rib.

Note:  For a more refined edge, slip the first stitch of each row knitwise.  Do not slip on cable rows.

I really love this scarf!  It’s fun to knit and comes out just like you hope it will.  I knit it in Pearl Malabrigo Worsted, just like Laura pictures in her pattern.  Pearl is a pale gray-beige so our photo looks almost black and white.  For those of you who have never knit with Malabrigo, it’s a wonderfully soft Merino from Uruguay.  It’s hand-dyed, so the colors have some variation.  The scarf is shaped with short rows.  I used two skeins, with quite a bit left over.  We carry both the pattern and yarn – it’s available in our Minneapolis store and in our webstore.

KB

Kay Panner knit this wonderful blanket out of Noro Kureyon from a pattern in Noro Family.  She modified the pattern – rather than seaming the squares she crocheted them together using black yarn for definition.  It took a while to knit, but Kay didn’t mind.  She says it was actually a very portable project (a square at a time) and the constant color changes were motivational.  Looks beautiful, doesn’t it?

This pretty scarf is knit using short row shaping.  If you lay it flat it forms a doughnut.  I used a combination of Sublime Kid Mohair Blend and Filatura di Crosa New Smoking (for glitter).  It required two balls of each, and is knit on size 13 needles.  It would also be beautiful in Kid Seta Kid Mohair.  One customer knit it up in dark blue Malabrigo Worsted, and that looked great too.  If you haven’t knit short rows, don’t be put off.  It’s actually a simple technique that is useful in many contexts, including creating a beautiful shoulder line in sweaters.  And believe me, by the time you’ve finished this scarf you’ll really know how to knit short rows.

The scarf is 5 inches wide and measures about 50 inches along the shorter edge.  The general technique is to cast on a multiple of three stitches, work the first short row 2/3 of the way across, the second 1/3 of the way, and then to knit back picking up the wraps.

KB

This is a great simple lace pattern that works well with different weights of yarn.  Here I’ve made the shawl size as directed.  I made it quite long and used about two and a half skeins of yarn.  It would be perfectly fine done with two skeins.  I’ve also adapted this pattern for a one skein cashmere scarf.