Scurry!

There's a lot of gift knitting going on just now, and most of it has been carefully planned for ages. But it happens to all of us: the need for a last-minute yarny present hits, and we look around for something that is fast and lovely (with particular emphasis on the "fast"). It's with this in mind that we bring you Scurry. It's a scarf that you can knit in a few hours, and the result is simply gorgeous. The lovely pair in the picture above are both made from Malabrigo Rasta, which is stunningly cosy and has an amazing colour palette, but any superbulky yarn will work as well. And when we say that Scurry knits up fast, we mean it: each of the scarves in the picture were knitted by different knitters in two evenings. This thing goes like a rocket on 12mm needles, and takes just two skeins of Rasta. In keeping with the season and with the tradition set by the Rivendell hat last year, this pattern is our Christmas present to you. Scurry Scarf Cast on a multiple of 3 stitches, plus another 2. (In other words, 17 will work (15 + 2), as will 20 (18 +2).) As long as you use this formula, you can make Scurry as wide or as narrow as you like. The red/purple scarf used 17; the orange used 20. Row 1: *knit 2, purl 1, repeat from * until only 2 stitches remain, knit 2. Row 2: knit Repeat these two rows until a metre or so of yarn remains, and cast off. And that's it. Two simple rows of mistake rib, and a truly delicious result. We hope you enjoy knitting Scurry, and we'd love to see your finished projects when you've made them, please. Now, if you'll excuse us, there's more Christmas crochet and knitting to do, and we'd better get onto that right now.