Two Colour Double Knit Cast On

It's a bird!

It's a plane!

It's a SUPER SCARF!

I have finished my scarf for the Superbowl XLVI in Indianapolis. I was relieved to have enough yarn to make the center [striped] section long enough that the words were still visible even when the scarf is wrapped around the neck.

All I did for that section was 12 rows for each stripe. The stitch is K1 P1 ribbing which is offset every two rows. (In other words, each wrong side rows lines up with the previous row, but on each right side row you knit the purls and purl the knits.) I knit right up to the end of my blue. (In fact, I had to knit the last row with a smaller needle so that I had enough to be able to anchor the end!) And I had a couple meters of white left--that's it!!

Another thing that worked out was the shaped letters "XLVI." I graphed them with a curved bottom so that the 3" patch that the organizers are sewing onto all the scarves will fit under the letters. (ETA: actually, I've since learned that female inmates are sewing them on!) With a little help from Photoshop, I can show you that it should look something like:

I'm glad I found a way to make the patch belong instead of looking like it was slapped on later.

Project Stats
Started: 5 Feb '11
Finished: 20 Mar '11
Pattern: my own design
Materials: Alpaca with a Twist, special Superbowl blend, 2 skeins ($24)
I will remind you that I knit this scarf from the bottom up, doing each side separately. I started the stripes as soon as the letters were done and joined the two halves with a Kitchener stitch. Once I got to the striping, I actually knit both halves at once with the white going on one half and the blue on the other. This way I only had to count rows half as much: if one side was long enough the other side had to be too!

I started each half of the scarf with a two-colour version of a provisional cast on:

I'm very happy with how it came out. The blue and white stitches seem to just grow out of each other without a cast on getting in the way.

On the next pic I've drawn down the center of a few of the columns so you can see that the two layers end up being offset by a half stitch:

This doesn't really affect the final project, but it is a necessary piece of the puzzle if you want to understand how it works. If you don't really care how it works, but just want to see how to do it, try these two videos I have recorded for you.

Part 1: Getting Started.

Part 2: The First Row.

I hope that helps you get started on your next two-colour double knitted project! (And now that you know how to get started, that may be sooner than you would have thought!)

And since I couldn't put it on the scarf, I will say it here, "Go Colts!" Let's hope there are some NFL games played next season, and let's hope the Colts can pull off the never-done-before and play--and win!--the Superbowl in their home stadium!! Now that would be super!