Old Navy has challenged my knitting skills...

[eatmoreplants]

I went to Old Navy tonight and I fell in love with a scarf. I can't bring myself to buy a knitted scarf that I could make so I decided to knit it myself. I went home and got on the website and this is the description of the item:

Extra-chunky yarn gives this scarf a handmade look, but the intricate cabled patterns go way beyond "knit one, purl two." Each corner has the added bonus of a fluffy pom-pom.

It seems to me like they are saying 'the chunky yarn makes it LOOK hand knit- but it's too complicated for a knitter to make"... umm.. not this knitter!



How can I figure out this cable pattern? Does anyone know what it is?

[Dulcinea]

it looks sort of like the "twin leaf lace" pattern in my "The Knitters Bible"

kind of like this
http://smariek.blogspot.com/2006/11/twin-leaf-lace-cloth.html

[Ryoruki]

i think it looks more like the Parasol stitch

although what it looks like in my book is different from what it looks like online...although the same steps are taken...

[Dulcinea]

hey, that's a nice one, too - thanks!

[ThreadOrYarn]

Extra-chunky yarn gives this scarf a handmade look, but the intricate cabled patterns go way beyond "knit one, purl two." Each corner has the added bonus of a fluffy pom-pom.
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/albumofolivia/icanknitthat.jpg

How can I figure out this cable pattern? Does anyone know what it is?

I wouldn't call the center design a cable. A variation of a 'horseshoe' lace maybe. But not a cable. The side designs look like a plain 2stfront cable done maybe 12 rows apart. To figure it out, either chart it out like explained here  or go to the library and look for stitch treasuries - Barbara Walker, Vogue, Harmony, Mary Thomas, - are a few, and I know there's others. Go through the treasuries until you find this pattern, or something really close and make the changes.  The link is for charting cables, so it may not be exact, but the ideas might help, or see if there's anything at http://techknitting.blogspot.com about reverse-engineering a stitch pattern

I think you're right that it's not too hard to knit - figuring out the pattern is probably going to be the hardest part! 

[sweets4ever]

Off-topic and demeaning posts have been removed from this thread.  Craftster is about sharing projects AND ideas.  If you are going to post demeaning comments, then don't bother posting here or anywhere on Craftster.  If you would like to discuss this further, please PM me.  Do not reply to me here or your comments will be removed.

Thanks all!

[editorgrrl]

You can zoom in a bit at http://www.oldnavy.com/browse/product.do?cid=26201&pid=522194, which may help people identify the lace panel in the middle.

[alwaysinmyroom]

I wonder if Old Navy gave that description to discourage anyone from trying to figure out the pattern!  ha ha Little do they know that they have thrown down the gauntlet for every knitter to try to figure out how to make a similar scarf!!! More than likely, the reverse is true: they probably adapted their knitting machines to a pattern that a real life knitter made!    I noticed this in their clothing lines and fabric...

I looked at the patterns you guys have suggested and while it might not be exactly the same, it is close enough for even an intermediate knitter like me to try! Cool--and I like the pompoms at the end a lot!  I know I can make those! 

Good luck with your scarf--I know you can do it--remember to post your final project!

[ThreadOrYarn]

More than likely, the reverse is true: they probably adapted their knitting machines to a pattern that a real life knitter made! 

From the (very, extremely) little I know of knitting machines, this probably can't be knit on a machine and it's being done by hand someplace anyway. Anybody who's more familiar with knitting machines please correct me, but I didn't think knitting machines could do much more than garter, stockinette and ribbing. Maybe that's just the personal-use machines and the commercial-use machines can handle fancier stitches, I don't know.

[alwaysinmyroom]

oh--did I read her description incorrectly?  I was going by the description that it looks "handmade"--I just made the assumption that not handmade meant machine made...whatever...t hen it should be even easier to make by hand then? 

My cranky old knitting machine does cables--I have not quite mastered them and it seems like a lot of work to remove stitches and put them back on! Someday when I have more time, maybe I will drag it in from the garage...Believe me, I do not profess to be any kind of knitter other than a laid back casual one!