Hitchhiker

How can I resist a pattern that’s a giant, geeky sci-fi reference? Long story short, I can’t. Hitchhiker had been in my queue for the longest time but, once I decided to cast on, there was no stopping me. I grabbed my needles, wound 2 skeins of Malabrigo Sock, and got started. Once the setup rows clicked in my head, the knitting was smooth sailing. I stuck the shawl in my purse and brought it along on car trips, running errands, and out to lunch. Hitchhiking indeed. Unfortunately, those days came to end when I had to wrap the shawl twice around my arm so I could walk around the mall and knit it at the same time. 

Once freed my purse, Hitchhiker was relegated to movie knitting, hanging out at parties, and occasional trips to knit night. I put it down for a month or two because the row after row after row of garter stitch and the occasional bind off just wasn’t holding my interest. Our intrepid wooly hero was saved when I was overcome by the urge to empty out my WIP bin. After too many movies and tv shows to count, Hitchhiker was finished and ready to answer the question about the universe and everything else. 

Sci-fi reference aside, another reason I cast on for Hitchhiker was because I wanted a pattern that would use up 2 skeins of Malabrigo sock and that could easily be made larger. Check and double check. Since I wanted to get the most out of the yarn and spare myself from ripping out, I started measuring how many grams of yarn were used per tooth. From the 48th to the 54th tooth, the teeth used 6g each with the 55th, 56th, and 57th teeth using 7g each. There were 2g left after binding off the last tooth. The kitchen scale has turned out to be one the best knitting tools I’ve ever bought. Full technical details on Ravelry.

All finished, the Hitchhiker has turned out to be exactly what I wanted. It’s cushy, warm, and big enough to wrap around my shoulders several times. Draped over my shoulders, the tails hang down past my knees. Can’t wait to bring this out during the Fall and Winter. Oh, and its 57 teeth aside, Hitchhiker knows that the answer to the universe and everything else is definitely 42.