Red Scarf Project

I briefly suspended all my UFO projects to rapidly knit a scarf for OFA's Red Scarf Project. I had some nice soft acrylic in a dark red color and so started knitting a bias scarf. Halfway through, I realized I would not have enough yarn. I went to the store and, although the brand of yarn I was using had no dye lot, another customer and I decided that making the second half black and red striped would be really cool. So here it is.



To make this scarf, I cast-on three stitches and increased one stitch every row until I had the width I desired, then every other row I increased at the beginning and decreased at the end, making a slanted pattern. When the scarf was 60" long, I decreased at the edge every row until I was back to three stitches. I liked the effect. The red and black stripes are completely random and knitted at my whim. I did make the second half predominantly black, though.

Sewing, Too

I realize I have not blogged much in September; but I have been busy. I have been knitting, of course, and also SEWING. I learned to sew about the time I learned to knit, back when I was about 12 years old. I don't exactly enjoy sewing, but when I want a specific garment and can't find one that fits, I do go online to Fabric.com and buy some fabric and get busy sewing. This time it is skirts. I prefer the A-line silhouette to the gored styles that are in the stores, plus my waist to hips ratio are way out of sync with ready-to-wear! I made a khaki twill skirt and still have a stone colored one to make, as well as a black double knit. I have skirts in my closet I like that I copy the measurements onto a purchased pattern. I put a zipper in the back and use elastic as interfacing in the waistband.

It Doesn't Itch!

I was at my Loch Norman Knitting Guild meeting on Tuesday and tried on a shoulder shawl knitted from Moonlight Mohair using the Frilly Wrap pattern from Creative Knitting Sept. 2005. It was cozy and DID NOT ITCH (not much, anyway). Since Moonlight Mohair seems to be closing out, I hit a WalMart and a Tuesday Morning store for 1/2 price purchases. Here is the first one I knitted...takes two balls and about 6 hours or so. I am going to experiment with buying "arty" buttons at the yarn shop and sewing to one side and let the wearer use the big holes in the shawl as buttonholes, rather than the brooch the pattern calls for. I plan to give these as Christmas gifts (keeping one or two for myself).

Yes, I am Knitting

Thanks to all of you who check my blog regularly...I see on site meter that I have lots of hits. Sorry the entries have been sparse, but I AM knitting.

The periwinkle blue half circle shawl is moving right along. This yarn is so wonderfully soft. The pattern is also very easy, but I still tend to make mistakes...am learning how to correct them w/o tinking!




I am also knitting a scarf for fall. This is a textured rayon yarn that I bought in a hank at Stitches Midwest. I got two 160 yard hanks for $8. Can't beat that. It feels a lot like chenille. Am knitting it on the bias, obviously. To do this, I cast on 3 stitches and increased every row until it was as wide as I wanted the scarf to be. Then I started, on every other row, increasing one at the beginning and decreasing one at the end. Be sure and mark the side that you do the inc/dec on. I think it makes an interesting stitch, not as predictably boring as the back and forth garter stitch, although it IS a back and forth garter stitch!

Simpler Lace

I admit (temporary) defeat. The MS3 Shawl is going into a drawer for awhile. In any case it would not be wearable before cold weather and it is a very stressful knit since I have to mark and read each row carefully as I knit it . I have (finally) figured out to knit each row based on the row before and am pleased with my skills. But.....



I bought this yarn at Stitches Midwest and the color is a real siren song for me. It is a very soft, unmercerized cotton that I bought at the WEBS booth. It is available online at yarn.com . I was trolling through my favorite yarn website, elann.com and found this half circle lace shawl pattern. It is exceedingly simple lace and I started knitting it with the periwinkle blue yarn and am very happy with the "feel" of the yarn fabric I am creating. It also moves along fast. Admittedly I had about 14 straight hours of knitting in the car this weekend, so it should have moved along fast.

This pattern is very simple lace and is pretty mindless to knit. Not a lot of "holes" in it, so it will be cozy this winter. I am interested to see if I like the half circle shape; triangular shaped shawls are not good for short people...if you have enough shawl to keep your arms warm, the point has to be pretty much at your knees!