For him – The Grantchester Scarf

There's an excellent BBC series called “The Cambridge Spies” which shows the recruitment of some of the UK's most notorious spies from the last century. In the first episode, there’s a scene where one of the future spies, Guy Burgess, is in college but permanently attired in a heavy wool duffle coat. One of his friends asks him why he is wearing the coat and his reply is one of the classic lines from the series:

“Vladivostok, Moscow, the Kuznets Basin and Cambridge – coldest places on earth. And of the four, Cambridge... permanently the 19th of February."

I expect we could all name a few other places that Mr Burgess should have included in that list – I'd vote for Boston, for sure. The temperatures there are already down below freezing overnight and we're not even into December yet.

So here's this week's “Knitting Ahead” idea: think of someone you know who lives in a cold climate and knit them something to keep them warm in the deep cold of January and February. This doesn't have to be a Christmas present of course, although that's always a good pretext for a gift. Cozy comforts are always welcome no matter what the occasion.

So let’s start with the menfolk in our lives…. Men generally like simple, muted colours in their scarves but with a lot of textural interest. I have quite a number of men's scarves already in my pattern store and have just added a new one, the Grantchester Scarf.

The scarf is worked in reversible stitch called Ribbon Basket Pattern, from our book, Reversible Knitting Stitches. This has a deep, rugged texture that traps the air and keep you warm even when the temperatures really start to fall. I used Knit Picks Wool of the Andes for this but any worsted weight, aran or similar yarn would work well.

The pattern includes three different sizes so you can work a short neckwarmer, a good medium-sized scarf or a long wrapping style to suit whatever the new owner would like. Have a look at my earlier blogpost for lots of ideas on scarf lengths to see what might suit them best.

So grab your needles and send some instant warmth to someone you know living in Vladivostok, Cambridge or somewhere equally cold!! For more information about the Grantchester Scarf pattern, please click here and to see all my men's patterns, please click here. All the patters are available for instant download from the site so you can get going on your scarf knitting today.

I’ll be back next time with another blogpost in this "Knitting Ahead" series when I will be focussing on something beautiful to knit for the ladies.

Until then – Happy Knitting!

Moira

Last Blogpost: Home for the holidays
"Knitting Ahead" Series Introduction: Autumn is coming!
​Next Up: New reversible pattern – The Scottswood Stole

​​Our book: Reversible Knitting Stitches
My Website: www.wyndlestrawdesigns.com

Keywords: Series/Knitting Ahead, Patterns/Mens Patterns,
#knittingahead, autumn, winter, scarf, scarves, texture, reversible stitch, reversible scarf,​

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