Italian Wool & Cable Knit Scarf

Last year after Christmas I found this yarn, handspun Italian wool, on sale at one of my favorite yarn shops and it has been waiting patiently for a pattern to call out it's name. I was browsing through the book AlterKnits by Leigh Radford and I saw this lovely scarf pattern. Italian Wool! it whispered.

It's been awhile since I've been able to enjoy the familiar clickity-click sound of my needles. So I grabbed my knitting bag, a hot cup of my favorite tea and sat on my front porch swing. And I knitted and knitted. I snuggled under a warm blanket and the only thing I could hear was the sound of the rain and the pattern stitches in my head. Therapy indeed...

It's working up really fast and the pattern is a simple 8 row repeat. It's cabled down the center and has a vine lace border on both sides, it's quite elegant. I'm knitting this one for a Christmas gift-shh! Maybe if I have some yarn left over I'll make myself one too. ;)

image by John Rizzo, AlterKnits