A Trio of Scarves

I have been knitting, a lot. 

I hurt my back/abdomen a few weeks ago and haven't really been able to do much. I was feeling very pathetic and useless, so I decided to check out my current knitting WIPS. 

I have an agreement with my knitting self. I am NOT allowed to start anymore knitting projects until I finish the WIPS I have. 

I grabbed these 3 already started scarves and finished them. 

The one on the left is a black cashmere 2x2 ribbed scarf, with a cable on the end. 

The middle scarf is a pea soup green wool waffle knit scarf. I believe I snagged up that yarn at the Big E a few years ago. 

The scarf on right is a magenta mistake stitch ribbed scarf. I have no idea what kind of yarn it is, someone probably gave it to me as a present.

As you can see in the pictures above, these scarves definitely needed to be blocked. Especially the green one, as it was completely curled up.

Confession ----- I have never blocked anything before. Mostly because I am too lazy. I have also never knit clothing before, so maybe that's why? Either way, I know blocking really gives hand knits a professional look so I had to stop being lazy and block these babies.

 (Before Blocking)

 (After Blocking)

Before blocking:

 During Blocking:

After Blocking:

Here is the Cashmere scarf. I didn't want to use my steam iron on it as I did the others. I wasn't sure what all of that heat would do to delicate cashmere.  I decided to opt for the pin, spray, let dry method that a lot of bloggers use for more delicate blocking.

I really wanted the finished scarf to accentuate the cabled edging.  I did go through all of the extra effort of adding that cabled edge, so I wanted it to really POP.

I kept the scarf at a consistent 7 inch width throughout the pinning process. 

The blocked, finished scarf actually only measured 6 inches. I lost an entire inch after I unpinned. Actually, I think that I lost more than that after I left the room. Booo.

Here is the before shot again:

 Here is the after:

Ok there it is! I think the blocking worked BEST on the 100% wool scarf. I really am in love with how it turned out. I guess I still need to work on my cashmere blocking skills. Does anyone have suggestions??? 

HOLLER!

Confessions of a Knitter

Oghhh I have soooo many unfinished knitting projects. I don't know what it is about knitting. I always create a project to bring with me on a weekend trip, work on it for that weekend, and never finish it again. 

A few friends have been asking me to teach some more knitting classes, so I made a deal with myself that I need to finish up these projects before I venture on and start new ones. It only makes sense, right?

These are all of the projects that I could actually find...

This is the start to some soft knit baskets. I have no idea how, but somehow I am missing 1 page of the instructions and can't go any further. Boo. I need to go re-buy the book. Or find it online somewhere, because I did technically pay for it already. If anyone has this pattern, please please let me know.They are called "Soft Baskets".

 

A scarf.... I think that I started this one last year. This color is soooo pretty. I really should finish it. It's just a simple mistake stitch ribbed scarf. Easy Peasy.

A shawl. I think that it is called Ishbel and it is possible that I got the pattern from ravelry.com. I cannot confirm that though, considering I cannot find the pattern anywhere! Maybe if I check out my ravelry purchases it will be there. It really is so pretty, and I got soooo far! I predict that I messed up somewhere and couldn't figure out where. I probably took the same row out 4 or 5 times and finally gave up. Maybe I'll rip out the lacework and start over at the last stockinette stitch row.

Another scarf. This one is called a waffle stitch scarf in an amazing wooly wool. I started this little number last year. I think that I may have stopped knitting this one because I was at the point of joining in a second skein and I couldn't decide if I should add another one or not. Well, I am going to add another one. I just decided that.

I really don't know what this is. I have no recollection of this project. The yarn is dark dark charcoal, almost black, with yellow flecks in it. It is supppperrrrrrr soft though. 

I knew exactly what to do with this project. Do you blame me? I think the yarn will make for a great men's scarf.

That's actually not so bad. I need to finish the two scarves and that shawl soon. I have goals. lol.  My girlfriends really want me to teach them to knit a project that isn't a scarf (i.e. socks, gloves, mittens). Little do they know HOW EASY those projects are! I am trying to think of something that I want to make for myself, maybe some more fingerless mittens? I gave my only pair away in the giveaway I hosted a few months ago. They are easy enough because they have no fingers. They can likely be whipped up in an afternoon of chatting with girlfriends, drinking wine, and watching Bridesmaids in the background.

Ok. Must get knitting.

Holler!

I'll consider it a success

Remember when I mentioned that I taught a knitting class back here? Well, one of my students (my neighbor below me) showed me her completed work and I am sort of PROUD!
My neighbor Tara was at the knitting class and she was was one of the students that caught on quickly. This is her sheltie Riley who we a.d.o.r.e. I must say, he makes a spectacular scarf model:

 (his eyes really aren't that creepy, he is a gorgeous dog)

I hope to post more progress photos from my other students once I see their results. Oh, any my finished scarves whenever I get around to them.

xoxo

Recent Knittings

Knitting was the first craft that I ever learned and it for sure has my heart. I taught my first knitting class two weeks ago and tried to teach a group of 7 girlfriends and coworkers how to knit this waffle scarf. Let's just say that it didn't go as well as I anticipated. 2 of the 7 girls caught one and are well on their way to finishing their first scarves in time to gift them for Christmas. 4 of the others really struggled with tension. They knit like they were the angriest people on Earth. I've never had a tension problem, so I really had absolutely no idea what to tell them. Poor girls, I can't imagine how unenjoyable and more difficult it was to knit that tight. I just told them to keep practicing the knit stitch and forget about what it looks like. The last girl was a lefty. Umm, why didn't I ask ahead of time? Needless to say, it took me a while to learn how to knit lefty in order to teach her to knit lefty. I was totally unprepared for that. WOOPS!

I started knitting up 2 of the waffle scarves to gift for Christmas. They aren't done yet, but hopefully will be soon. One will be going to my future-mother-in-law, henceforth referred to as "FMIL". She will be getting the one below. I normally don't use yarn from Michael's (no offense) but as long as my yarn doesn't have any acrylic in it and it is a blend of materials I recognize, I guess I don't care. I used this yarn from Michael's and size 9 straight needles:

The other will go to my sister who is coming home from LONDON for Christmas. I used yarn from Sheepy Hollow farms in Argyle, NY. It is awesome! It is very wooly, so hopefully it will keep her warm while she is strutting around the streets of London:

Hopefully I will finish them today!