Seney
by Tanya Thomann

Skills Needed: Cast on, knit, purl, increase, decrease, knit with two colors

Driving to my maternal grandmother’s house through the Upper Peninsula of Michigan meant driving the “Seney Stretch” what my parents told me was the most uneventful stretch of road in Michigan Turns out, they might have been right. Leading you into the small town of Seney is a 25 mile stretch of the straightest road ever—perfect for letting my 16 year old nephew practice his driving so that I can do some travel knitting. Seney itself is a lumber town, with a lovely nature preserve and interesting history. Ernest Hemingway spent some time fishing there and writing his story “The Big Two-Hearted River.” Don’t let the boring drive keep you away!

This slouchy hat or cozy cowl is perfect for a first time fair isle knitter, an excellent project for social knitting or, well, knitting as you are driven on the straightest piece of highway you’ve ever seen. This simple knit will allow you to take in the beautiful sights of the National Forests that you’ll ride though heading toward Seney., or wherever your road trip takes you. The repeats are simple and easy to memorize with plenty of plain knitting to move you toward the finishing stitches before you’re tired of it. The color changes are perfect for using bits of special leftover yarns, or to test out how well you like colors together. Knit it as written with five colors, or use the chart to color your own version with the colors you choose. It’s fun to see how much this changes with knitters’ color preferences.

If you’re looking to follow Hemingway’s footsteps to get a great photo of your finished hat or cowl, you should know…his fishing spot wasn’t the Two-Hearted river, but at the Fox River in Seney, a kept secret from his readers, but not from us!

SIZE
Hat: Newborn 6-18 mo, child, adult small, adult med/large, adult xl
Cowl: One size fits most adults


FINISHED MEASUREMENTS (after blocking)
Hat: 13” 15.5”, 19.5”, 22”, 23.5”, 26”
Cowl: 26”

MATERIALS
Sample knit it Brown Sheep Nature Spun Sport 100% wool; 184 yd/ 168 m per 1.76 oz/50 g skein;
For up to the largest hat or cowl:
ColorName;MC 110yards
CC1 50 yards
CC2 50 yards
CC3 50 yards
CC4 50 yards

1 set US #5/3.75mm double-point needles
16-inch US #3/3.25mm circular needle
16-inch US #5/3.75mm circular needle

notions required stitch marker, tapestry needle

GAUGE
26 sts/30 rows = 4 inches/10 cm in unblocked two color knitting