Eye of the Storm by Rachel Molenaar

Eye of the Storm

Knitting
August 2012
Sport (12 wpi) ?
21 stitches and 28 rows = 4 inches
in stockinette stitch
US 5 - 3.75 mm
250 yards (229 m)
one size
English
This pattern is available for $5.00 USD buy it now

Curious about the technique for creating this scarf? Check out the video tutorial and a photo tutorial at my blog.


This triple-layered scarf has been swirling in my head for the better part of a year. It started as an “I wonder if I can …” kind of question. In this case, the question was this: “I wonder if I can knit something with three different layers, all at the same time, without seams or any other tricks?” Could it be done? Yes!

Imagine the scarf as viewed from the end, with three legs. Trace the direction of knitting outward on a leg, then back inwards, then outward again on the next leg, then inwards again – each leg is worked out-then-in, and the legs are worked in order, counterclockwise. I thought I might need three circular needles – one for each leg? – but as it turned out, by swapping needles in and out and the end of each leg-row, the three legs can be created with only two circular needles. (The mathematician in my soul wonders if this means a scarf with N layers requires N-1 circular needles….)

Each layer in Eye of the Storm has the same lace edging. The layers are three different widths, revealing the lace on each layer. The unusual construction takes advantage of the long color repeats in Zauberwolle: because the layers are worked simultaneously, the color changes line up perfectly.


You will need TWO circular needles in the same size for this project. Shorter cables (16” to 36”) work better than longer ones. It is possible to convert this project to DPNs -- one test knitter did so -- but the pattern is written with circs in mind.