Category Archives: Scarf

Dancing Days

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I had a good walk / run today. My running pace was Dancing Days. :) I almost didn't go because it was getting late. I should never try to figure out something with my knitting before I go out for a run.
Houndstooth BeginningI am working on the Houndstooth scarf and because my gauge is so different from the pattern, I needed to find out how many more repeats to do before I get to the center section. I determined that I need to do 65 pattern repeats on each end and 94 rows of ribbing in the center. Hope I have enough yarn! ~Update - I don't have enough yarn. I weighed what I have already knitted and found out that I need at least 2 more skeins of white and one more black.~ The funny thing about this pattern is that she doesn't say to finish the second side with so many pattern repeats. The way it reads, you do one repeat, knit two rows and bind off. Obviously this is not what was done if you look at the picture.
I finished my Maybe Mulberry scarf for the LYS. I kind of like these shots.I knit two rows of twisted drop stitch in the Luna and knit two rows in Stella. Needles = US 8. Two balls Stella and 1 ball Luna.

Warmth for a chilly evening.

New home at the store.
While I was at the store yesterday I made this necklace for the shop. I think it came out cute. I haven't crocheted in years. Ever since I picked up knitting again I haven't looked back. It went really quick, and I know it would be a lot quicker once my crochet skills come back. I think I'd prefer a metal needle too. I was using a bamboo one and it seemed too sticky for me.

Boatloads of Booties

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Some things that have kept me from my UFOs:
Platform Bootie for Shameless

Shameless Baby Bootie

Baby Booties. I was commissioned to make some for Shameless that will air in February or March. Joan Cusack will be knitting them so I made one complete and one partial with needles still in it. I hope the DPNs don't fall out! I hope they can figure it out... ;) I used the Seamless Baby Platform Shoes pattern. The photo just cracked me up so I had to go with them. I knit them while door monitoring at VK Live.
Comically Misshapen Baby Booties

Can You Say Clown Feet?

I made this pair back in April that were supposed to be "pink booties -- comically misshapen." I wasn't sure, but the prop master liked them. Unfortunately they must have ended up on the cutting room floor because they were supposed to be in the final episode of Breaking In, but that scene never appeared. It was a cute show. I hope it comes back.
More booties for friends, one in blue and this one in pink. I'm using Ruth's "Perfect" Baby Booties pattern. I knit blue ones straight from the pattern and I discovered that what would make this pattern even more perfect for me was to knit in the round. The pink ones are modified to do just that. Look, ma! No seams! Whooo Hooo!
Pink Booties

Girl Booties

Ruffled and Ruched Scarf

I knit this lovely neck warmer for Unwind. It only took a couple of days.
Be Sweet Scarf/Wrap/Poncho

Be Sweet Scarf/Wrap/Poncho?

I remembered another UFO in my queue. It's this poncho in Be Sweet Extra Fine. The colors are fuchsia and aubergine. I don't know why I started this. I don't even wear ponchos. I don't really like ponchos. I got caught up in the moment I guess. Lisa at Unwind had just finished this and put it on me to see where to put the ribbon to join it. And it was cute. And the colors are totally my colors. I'm not sure I'll wear it as a poncho though. It will make an extra big scarf or wrap.
Another project I got caught up in was Mina. Yes, this is a KAL from Heather Ordover's book, WWMDFK. We're currently listening to Dracula, and this lovely shawl is the Wilhelmina Shawlette by Chrissy Gardiner.

My Mina

I knit this in a lovely dark red Shilasdair and ran short about 6 rows. I ordered more, but you know my track record by now. :( The new skein is quite a bit lighter than the old. I'm not sure how I should handle this. I could reknit the whole thing using one skein per row, but that may turn out a bit stripey. Or I could go back a couple of rows and pretend like I meant to do that for the edging. Oh, I don't know. It will probably sit for a while. What do you think I should do? Leave a comment below.
I really need to get back to the Houndstooth Scarf in Koigu. I did a swatch, but I think I might loosen it up a bit. The problem with all this knitting is that I've been staying up very late at night. "One more row, I've got to finish this repeat..." You know what I mean. ;)

UFOs

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I have several UFOs in my queue. In a way they make me feel a little guilty. Here are some of them.

Click picture for more views on Ravelry.

Wakame Lace looks beautiful IMHO. I have the front of the sleeves to finish and the back sleeves. The top is worked in the round up to the armpits, then you hold the back stitches and work on the front sleeves. I'm not sure, but it looks like I  have only 2 or 3 more repeats to the shoulders. This poor dear keeps getting pushed aside for other projects. She's sweet, but time consuming. I love how the fabric is turning out. It is Fyberspates Scrumptious Lace in Oyster. It's merino and silk so it's soft with a gorgeous sheen. The original pattern was engineered for a sport weight yarn. I did a gauge swatch and determined that I needed 7 panels across the front and back and  3 on the bottom. I also added to the lace ground between the top and skirt. When I saw this yarn at I Knit London, I just knew it wanted to be Wakame Lace. It took me a while to recover the pattern from my stash. I couldn't quite remember the name, but I was sure of the edition of the magazine. It is from Interweave Knits Summer '08 magazine.

Click for Ravelry Info.

Palindrome - This scarf was supposed to be for my husband. I've been working on it for almost a year now! Yikes! Ravelry says I started in 12/10. The problem with this one is the yarn keeps getting so tangled as I'm knitting, so I have to constantly stop and untangle. I'm just so stubborn that I haven't put it on bobbins and I'm working off the balls. I got this yarn 2 years ago at I Knit London. It's also a bit scratchy since it is pure wool. I haven't been excited because I think it might not be fun to wear. I do like the two tone thing I've got going. The pattern itself is very easy when you're not using two colors.

Click for Ravelry Page

Ahh, Twist and Shout. I have been wanting to make this sweater ever since I saw it on the cover of Knitty Fall '08. I found the yarn in the bargain bin at Patricia Roberts Knitting in London. It was the same trip in 2010 that I bought the above yarn. It is also a pure wool, and I have gotten no farther than the picture. I hope the moths haven't found it yet. I'm not even sure that I have quite enough to finish the sweater. This may be destined for the frog pond. :(

Click for Ravelry Page

I called this "Lighter Than Air" because it is. It is super soft and floaty. It's made from Rowan Kidsilk Spray that I got in Amsterdam at De Afstap. I used the Large Rectangle in Leaf and Trellis Pattern with Trellis Border from Victorian Lace Today. The first thing that stopped me was the beads. I bought the beads from a street vendor in Waterlooplien and even though they are common seed beads, I have not been able to find the exact same kind. They have a metallic center that gives them a cool shine. The next thing that stopped me even after I found some beads that will do is (shame!) I ran out of yarn. I have been hunting down Kidsilk Spray in the Medici colorway ever since. I have many skeins now, but none quite the same shade as the one I left off with. The crazy thing is I bought 3 skeins at the same time in the same dye lot, but one of the balls was noticeably darker than the others. (I didn't notice till I got home though. Home in California. Yeah.) I refuse to frog this. Mostly because it's very difficult to frog mohair. I'm probably going to give in and use one of the closest skeins I have. Or if I get real brave and have nothing else to work on I might rip out the border and start it over with a more matchy-matchy skein. It really is lovely in person.

Click pic for updates. This one will finish.

Meet Maybe Mulberry. This is a take off on the Mulberry Scarf by Colinette. I am making it for Unwind Yarn. This one will finish. Soon. It is two rows of Luna and 2 rows of Stella by S. Charles. I examined all the photos on Ravelry and read some of the notes and determined that if has a twisted drop stitch. I did two rows of them. The original pattern appears to have one row. So it's different. Those are all the UFOs I have listed on Ravelry, but I know there are many more forgotten ones in my basket. (I have a big basket.) Tell me a little about your UFOs. ;)

Koigu

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I’ve just discovered wonderful Koigu yarn. I’m sure most of you are already aware of how beautiful it is. I had never knit with it until I was asked to do a sample shawl for Foxy Knits. Their online shop specializes in Koigu. Merilyn was doing a trunk show at Alamitos Bay Yarn Company and wanted one of Fickle Knitter’s designs worked up in the lovely Koigu. The pattern was the Wild Lettuce Lace Shawl. I was immediately taken with how springy the yarn is. The color that Merilyn sent me was a lovely golden yellow. In some lights it took on a greenish cast.

The lace worked up quickly on the recommended US 5 needles and was a joy to knit. I finished in 11 days! After blocking I really loved it and was reluctant to send it back! I used two + skeins. I was hoping to only have to use 2, but I needed just a little more to finish the edging. If I were to make it for myself I think that I would make the body larger. I’d want a bit more to wrap around as a shawl, but the pattern as written came out quite nice. Here are the details on Ravelry.

The trunk show was on August 27, and I went to see all the other lovely samples made in Koigu. There were lots of shawls and scarves, and a beautiful coat that looked like it was an adult surprise jacket. There were so many lovely colors to choose from. There were the solids and the wilder multicolor yarns. There was a mulberry silk that I was coveting, but decided that I’d better wait. It is exceptionally beautiful, but I had to restrain myself.  Then there were some speckled yarns. I decided to get a couple of skeins of these to knit a pattern that I had gotten while in London earlier this year. I didn’t realize it at the time, but the pattern was from a company in Washington. The idea was to only buy stuff from England, but I digress. The pattern is Barb’s Koigu Ruffle. You can order a kit at the link. I made it for my trip to Amsterdam.

Zaanse Schans, Netherlands

I got a couple more skeins in one of my favorite colors, a tonal hand painted mauve. I’m making socks from them. So far they feel super comfy. I can’t wait to wear them! They were my travel knitting in Amsterdam. The pattern is Khotan from Silk Road Socks by Hunter Hammersen. I swear I am going to make all the socks in this book! 2 ½ done so far! Speaking of Amsterdam, every time I knit in public I got comments and smiles. On the train a little girl of about 7 was so fascinated by what I was doing she had to bring her mother over to see. Either I don’t knit in public so much at home, or people keep more to themselves here.

Oosterpark, Amsterdam

New Wrist Warmer Pattern

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As soon as the weather got to 89 degrees in Southern California, I decided to publish a new pattern for wrist warmers. Oh, the irony. I love irony, don't you? ;) Seems like just last week I was wearing them... I actually designed these over the holidays. I didn't talk about them much because they were a Christmas gift and I didn't really update my blog about Christmas knitting. They're super simple to knit and fast too. It's an evening or two's worth of concentrated knitting. I worked them two at a time, just like my socks, on two circular needles. You don't really need to do it that way, I just prefer it. If you're up for a challenge, just read the right and left hands at the same time, keeping track of which row you're on. When you get to the thumb gusset, remember to add the M1s on every odd row starting at row 13. I wish I had a picture of them on the needles. It would be easier to describe with a visual aid. I worked them as if my hands were in front of me with the thumbs in the center. Does that make sense? If not, I'll start another pair and take a picture.

SOCK NEWS

I have started Mood from Silk Road Socks. The Ravelry group is doing a KAL. The pattern isn't hard, but I've frogged them numerous times already. This morning I discovered that one of them had 68 stitches instead of 64. Now I've got to start that one over. In the beginning my knitting did not look like the pictures. I discovered a note at the end of the pattern. Ummm, I wish that note had been at the beginning where the instructions for the leg are... Just goes to show you that reading the pattern all the way through before starting is profitable. Will I learn? Probably not. I'm almost done with the leg of my RSS sock. This one is better for almost mindless knitting. Not quite, but it does take less concentration. I can actually "read" my knitting on this one. It will be the next pattern up for publication.

SCARVES

I've been working on Palindrome off and on since December. I thought that I might be able to give it to Rex instead of the sweater that wasn't working out, but this has proven to be a bit of a challenge. The pattern is easy, but I decided that I wanted to do it in two colors. First I had to work out how the yarn would stay together. I guess this is my first color-work project. I think it would be Intarsia rather than Fair Isle. It's not that hard, just very tangly. I'm stubborn too, so I didn't make manageable bobbins, I'm using whole skeins rather than joining the yarn every so often. The yarn tends to break sometimes though, so some of the pieces are shorter and easier to untangle. Speaking of the sweater, that would be "new sweater" in the WIP on the left side of the page. Actually, I've decided to use a pattern from Interweave Knits Weekend 2009. I just got my copy from EBay today! Yippee! Anyway, the sweater I've decided on is the Twisted Pine Pullover. I really want to do this one, but I don't have enough yarn. It will probably be better in a softer yarn anyway. I'm going to put this project aside for a while though. I've got so many others going... Ok, back to scarves. I just cast on the Panorama scarf for a store sample. I'm using Allegoro by Classic Elite in a pretty blue. The pattern is a pretty lace that seems to look a little like hearts going up the scarf. There is long fringe too. It looks very summery. Do you think I have enough projects going? It's hard to keep track of them all, especially the ones that are languishing in my basket. I still see lots of WIPs in my Ravelry notebook. I'd better get to work! Have a great weekend! Knitter Ditter

Finish A Scarf, Start A Sweater

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I have been working on a scarf for my LYS, and I finally finished! Yey! But I forgot to take pictures before I turned it in. You'll just have to wait till I get it back. I didn't know when I started knitting samples for the store that we got to keep them when she's done with them. I got my Annis back several weeks ago. I love it! The scarf is from the Easy Bamboo Lace Scarf pattern by Michelle Miller. The pattern was so easy, I quickly got bored. Knitting scarves isn't really my thing. I like how it turned out though and the yarn is yumm, yumm, yummy! Classic Elite Silky Alpaca Lace. Soooo Soft! I decided that I will knit some fingerless gloves to go with it. If I get it back by Christmas it will be a gift. If not, it's mine! Muah ha ha!
Yummy Silky Alpaca Lace, Soon to be Fingerless Gloves

Yummy Silky Alpaca Lace, Soon to be Fingerless Gloves

I started a sweater today for DH. I've been meaning to start since sometime in the summer. I've had the yarn that long. The yarn is Rowan Purelife Revive. It's a little stiff to work with though it is soft. DH had a sweater that he loved, but it got a hole in the front that is impossible to fix. I can't figure out the stitch pattern. I thought it might be a variation on brioche stitch, but I can't get it quite right and it doesn't work in this yarn anyway. I like how this comes out in stockinette, but I really want to add some design feature, cables or something. I'm still working that out. Meanwhile I cast on 224 stitches for the bottom rib. I will be working this in the round. Once 1 1/2 inches are complete I will increase by 90% for the body per Elizabeth Zimmerman. Beginning Project Details: Yarn: Rowan Purelife Revive in Marble, dye lot 1440 Needles US 4 3.5mm 5.5 stitches, 7.25 rows / inch
Rowan Purelife Revive

Rowan Purelife Revive

Ishbel

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Ishbel in Ysolda Red I have finally completed Ishbel, designed by Ysolda Teague. I think she's my new favorite designer!  The yarn is Ysolda Red from my Lorna's Laces Color Commentary subscription. The pattern for Ishbel came with it. I fell in love with this pattern at the very end. It has been a love / frog project for me. I was about to give up when I discovered that I was crossing the end yo because of the way I knit. I knit stockinette in the combination style made popular by Annie Modesitt. I discovered that I had to purl the yo with the yarn over the needle instead of under to avoid an annoying little cross in the yarn. Since the yo is on every row  it is supposed to just go straight across. I think. Well, that's what I wanted anyway. Once I discovered the error of my ways, all was well and I knit on the lace bit with no further problems. I really didn't get the beauty of the design until the blocking phase. The point at the bottom of the shawl comes together so beautifully. It looks like flowers growing up from the bottom. I should have taken a better photo, but here it is! Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock Weight: Fingering / 4 ply Content: 80% Wool, 20% Nylon Color: Red (semi-solid) Needles: US 6 - 4.0 mm Pattern: Ishbel Adjustments made: I added an additional 4 pattern repeats (2 on each side) so that my gauge would be close to the pattern. I think it came out larger than expected after blocking which doesn't bother me. Now it's a cute little shawlette! More info and photos at my Ravelry Project page...

Annis is Finished!

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I finished Annis the other day and blocked it. Today I took it over to Unwind where it will live as a store sample. I think it's beautiful! Check it out live and in person! The yarn is so soft, you just want to keep petting it. It will make a great wrap to keep your shoulders warm on a cool summer evening. Yarn: Colinette Parisienne Weight: Lace 2 ply 70% Kid mohair, 30% polyamide (nylon) Color: Variegated Blue-green Needles: US 7 - 4.5 mm, 32" circular Pattern: Annis from Knitty, Spring+Summer 2010 One note: I found an error on line 13 of the chart. It should have a yarn over on either side of the double decrease (S2KP). Just in case you run into the same trouble... Oh, I see they have already corrected the pattern. Never mind!

Ishbel

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Ishbel In Progress

Ishbel In Progress

I thought I should post this. I've been working on it off and on in between Annis since 5/20 and just posted it on Ravelry. It is really a simple pattern. That's why it is frustrating that I keep twisting the end YO's. I don't quite know how I do it. I've been watching closely, and then a couple of rows later I'll see it. Uggh! I tried laddering down to the twist, but ended up having to frog to that point. The last time I was able to ladder down the last 3 stitches and untwist the whole deal. I've got another one in there and I've been ignoring it in favor of working the first lace pattern. The yarn is Lorna's Laces Color Commentary in Ysolda Red. 2 skeins. Needles are smaller than called for in the pattern simply because I liked the weight of the stockinette.  I adjusted my stitch count to add 32 stitches so that my measurements will be as described in the pattern. Wish me luck! Cheryl ;)