:: January 2001 
Feature
It's Not Too Early to Make a Lovely Scarf for a Christmas 2001 Gift
There is nothing more personal than a handmade gift. Within this category, gifts that we can enjoy and elicit compliments from others while wearing provide special pleasure.
Within the category of wearable gifts, scarves hold top billing. This is for several reasons. First, you have little to worry about sizewise. While necks may be thin or thick, scarves can be wrapped and draped fashionably for the entire range of neck sizes. Second, a handmade scarf is equally appropriate for a female or a male recipient. Third, you can personalize a scarf for the person you wish to make it by selecting a fibre and a color/color combination that is flattering to that person. Fourth, a lovely scarf can be completed in a few weeks' time if you work on it during waiting times and a handful of evenings.
I recommend the following two knitting patterns that are both easy to make and attractive to wear. One is knitted lengthwise; the other is knitted in the traditional widthwise manner.
Scarf #1 (see photo) is knitted lengthwise. Use a medium weight wool, fibre blend, or acrylic. Solid colors or variegated yarns give equally attractive results. Use size 7 needles.
Directions: Cast on 160 stitches (more or fewer depending on the length desired).
Knit row 1.
Knit row 2.
Purl row 3.
Knit row 4.
Purl row 5.
Repeat rows 1-5 until the desired width is reached. To make a shoulder warmer or rectangular shawl, keep going after scarf width is reached.
Finish the edges with yarn fringe, purchased fringe, woven trims, beads, or an edging. A good source for edgings is Nicky Epstein's Knitted Embellishments, Interweave Press, 1999.
Scarf #2 (see photo) is knitted widthwise. The pattern is found in Scarves from Vogue Knitting On the Go, Butterick Publishing Co., 1999 (see Cyberfibres Review, Jan/Feb, 2001).
The pattern I used is the Diagonal Block Scarf on page 63. In the Vogue book photo, a solid colored scarf is pictured. In the Cyberfibres photo, a variegated scarf is shown. I used a 100% wool yarn from Japan called Eisaku Noro (available at Shuttles, Needles, and Hooks, Cary, NC, tel. 919-469-WEAV). If you use the same pattern with a softer fibre such as alpaca, the drape will be softer, too.
Choose a pattern, choose a loved one for whom to make a scarf, and select a fibre you think will please and be becoming to the recipient of your efforts, and get knitting!
I hope you will be inspired by the "Knitting Madonna," painted by Meister Bertram of Minden, Germany, circa 1400 A.D. The leaves on the trees in the painting suggest that she was not clicking her needles in the wintertime. Give yourself a pat-on-the-back for starting your Christmas list early