Last fall, my boyfriend asked me to knit him a scarf. Finding scarf patterns for men is hard: it needs to be interesting (visually, but also so I can make it to the end of the knitting part without getting too bored) but not girly, so most of the lace patterns don’t work. Browsing Ravelry, I stumbled upon the Meadowbrook pattern by Stephen West. I’m not a big Stephen West fan, as I find his style too excentric for my taste, but some of his simpler patterns have really beautiful details (I made a Windschief hat something like a year ago, I’ve never blogged it but I love the result).
Meadowbrook is a really nice pattern, which alternates rows and rows of ribbing that allow for brainless knitting (I did that while binge-watching “Whose line is it anyway?”), and more involved parts with cables so it’s not too boring to make.
It did seem like it took forever: I started it in October, and finished in February, altough I have to admit that I didn’t have a very good knitting rythm while I was writing my thesis. I remember that the last part of ribbing (75 rows) took me something like six hours on a plane trip, so I estimate the all scarf to have taken me between 50 and 60 hours.
It had been a long time since I had knitted with size 3,5 needles (US Size 4) too! After knitting a bunch of projects in larger needles, they seemed so tiny, but the result it worth it! I used Blue Sky Alpacas as the pattern recommended, Melange Cinammon for the cables parts and Sport Weight in Medium Gray and Dark Gray for the ribbing. It is wonderfully soft, which was really important considering it was made for someone not used to wearing scarves or wool so I was afraid it would be too scratchy. I bought the amount of yarn indicated in the pattern but I have a lot left, a skein and a half of the main color and some of the others, so I’m going to make a matching hat… probably next winter though!
Meadowbrook
Meadowbrook de Stephen West
Blue Sky Alpacas – Melange – Cinnamon – 2 skeins
Blue Sky Alpacas – Sport Weight – Dark Grey – 4 skeins
Blue Sky Alpacas – Sport Weight – Light Grey – 1 skein
On Ravelry
I’m having trouble with my cables…seems so simple, and yours looks just like his…any suggestions, or should I just make an appointment with my knitting store?
I wish I could help, but I don’t have any particular technique or tip for cables, and I don’t remember running into specific difficulties with the Meadowbrook ones. I hope you find a solution soon!
I’m with Judy, are the cables 16(8+8) or is it something else. The pattern isn’t good at explaining it. Because it say C16F(K2,P2) for times. Does that mean you should only have four cables total the first time you do them. How did you do your cable? In detail if you could explain