Summer Breeze Headscarf

I found a new knitting magazine recently called Knit Now.  Easy to miss considering how poorly stocked my local magazine outlets are - it has become virtually impossible to find a knitting magazine anywhere.  The answer - probably - is to subscribe but I don't feel compelled to buy a knitting mag every month and besides, I want the variety of different ones!  Also, I've got projects I've been meaning to do going back to issues that came out three years ago and often, magazines just seem to repeat the same stuff - I mean, how many mug warmers do you need?!

Anyway, the patterns in Knit Now are a little harder than the magazines I've been used to.  Their "beginner" is my intermediate!  Although that might have something to do with the fact that I'm not a hugely adventurous or skilled knitter.  I'm currently knitting the Summer Breeze Headscarf (Issue 34) with some gorgeous yarn I bought an awfully long time ago.  There were only three balls of it - all I could find in the John Lewis sale.  This was back in the days when they actually did excellent yarn sales.....sadly, they could no longer be bothered selling yarn off cheap, nor do they have a particularly good range.  Three cheers for on-line shops.  But I digress....

The yarn is Gedifra Fiorista Fino, 88% cotton, one of those divine yarns that look like a gorgeous painting by the time you've finished.  The pattern actually calls for Artesano Linen Silk DK, which costs about £8 a skein (Knit Now is really big on skeins) but I thought my cotton would work better as a headscarf/headband.  It's a lot finer but considering that you just keep on increasing until you basically reached around 80cm, I figured I just need to keep going with my triangle until I've got the right end width and then I'll know it's big enough!

I started it earlier this year but made the huge error of trying to knit it in front of the telly.  It's not a difficult pattern but you do (or I do) really have to concentrate.  I restarted it this week and am knitting in the afternoons when I'm quite tired after a morning of hard work and need to sit down for a bit!  Decent sci-fi stories on R4 all week have really helped!

I've learnt some new things as well:  for a start, there really is a difference between knit 2 tog and ssk.  I couldn't figure out how to do the latter so didn't bother - big mistake!  Another reason to pull out my first attempt [see directly below].  However, I found ssk really difficult and am doing knit 2 tbl instead.  Is there a difference?!  

My first attempt. Lots of mistakes, but aren't the colours lovely?

Must have been an exciting bit on TV as there are about ten mistakes in this bit....!

Knit Now magazine

The pattern - the photo has actually come out quite clearly and you might be able to copy it!

My second attempt, using a different ball, so the colours have started out differently.
No mistakes so far!!

My three balls of precious end-of-line Gedifra...