Henry Scarf is one of the classic patterns in the recent knitting world, as most of you may know. It was published in Knitty in 2007 (more than a decade already!) and stands out for its non hand-knit-like looking.
I already tried to knit this scarf (oh!) 3 years ago.
I chose this beautiful wine red yarn then.
It’s Holst Garn Noble in Cinnabar color, a light fingering weight yarn, 333 meters [364 yards] for 50g, and was too thin!
I got 40 stitches for 10 cm [4″].
Henry is knit lengthwise, so the number of the stitches you cast on gives the scarf length. So, if you want to make a 150 cm [60″]-long scarf, that means you need 15 x 40 = 600 sts for a row! It was simply impossible.
I buried the yarn in my stash and woke it up last winter to use it double.
With yarn held double, I got 24 sts for 10 cm [4″], and the number of stitches is more human, just 336 for 140 cm [56″] + 3 edge sts on each end.
As many knitters point it out, the cast-on in the pattern doesn’t match the bind-off (tubular), so I used long-tail tubular cast-on.
The herringbone pattern was not easy. It alternates 2 knit sts and 2 slipped sts with yarn in front, and these 4-stitch sequence is shifted by 1 st on next row. And the shifting floats of slipped stitches give this embossed motif.
On the RS rows, you have (almost) no problem as you work with the motif in front of you, but on the WS rows, you have to work 2 purls and 2 slipped sts with yarn held in back of your work without seeing the motif. And I of course I didn’t stop making mistakes… I did know that I needed to repeat p2-sl2, but as soon as I got inattentive, I was mixing things up…
But I got through it!
The stitches are bound off with tubular bind-off, a technique I’m not comfortable with. I really appreciate every time I use this technique Cheryl Brunette’s video.
I think I should have made it longer (my husband wanted it short and not wide), but it’s getting longer with use.
The fabric felt a bit stiff with yarn held double, but it gets very supple after washing. The yarn, unlike Holst Garn’s Supersoft, is not scratchy to your hands when you’re working with, and to your skin around the neck. I have a rather sensitive skin and I can use it with no problem. Really nice!
NOTES
Pattern：Henry Scarf by Mareike Sattler, in Knitty, Fall 2007
Yarn：Holst Garn Noble in Cinnabar, held double, used about 100 g
Needle：3.5 mm [US 4] circular needle
Finished measurements：about 18 cm x 140 cm [7″ x 55″]