Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Scarves Abundant

I don't think I've ever worked on this many scarves at once in my entire life.
Scratch that; I've NEVER worked on this many scarves EVER. There's a craft fair at my school in two weeks and I've decided that, along with selling some jewelry and my cheesecake charms, I'm also going to sell some scarves and some hats.
Crocheted/knitted scarves and hats. And so far I have one scarf completed (see below), three more on the way and no hats.
Kill me.
Here's the deal with scarves: they're pretty, they're snuggly, they're warm, they make you go 'aahhhhh' when they're soft and fuzzy.
But they're ANNOYING to make. Not only do most patterns (crochet at least) tell you to chain the number of stitches the scarf is LONG, but if you're knitting them they just never ever ever seem to get longer! It's kind of like your last boyfriend's junk; you want it to get bigger, but it's not getting any longer (courtesy of highschool lady friends. Thank you Andrea.)
Ahem.
Phallic jests aside, the completion of scarves does tend to give the maker a great deal of satisfaction, especially if one has been working on said scarf for a while, then gave up...lost the scarf in the making...and finally found it again only to finish it in two days! YAY!
Take this Circle Scarf for example:









Now, this may look very complex and difficult and you might be saying "Gosh, Gabs, this is really quite something"...
Thank you, thank you *blushes*
Oh, go away false modesty/pride/stupidity. We have no use for you here.
So, despite my ranting that I hate knitting (oh, I haven't ranted about that yet? Ah well, next post will be an anti-knitting rant!), this never ending scarf was indeed knit..knitted? knitteth? I don't know anymore.
So yes, this was created using a Basketweave stitch (as you can see from the photo, it looks kind of like it was woven. I assure you, it was knitted using a combination of purls and knits).

And as you can see from the pictures below, it can be worn in various ways:


This is how normal and beautiful people wear it. If you want to be normal and/or beautiful, wear it like this!

Alternatively, you can wear it this way:

This is how crazy people wear it casually. Don't ask me how they wear it on a bad day. Trust me, you don't want to know.

Ah, so you want the pattern now, do you? WELL YOU KNOW WHAT, I WON'T GIVE IT TO YOU
MUAHAHAHAHAH
Just kidding. Here you go!

Circle Scarf (AKA Infinity Scarf)

1 Ball of 100% Wool (pink) [I don't actually remember what the brand was as the label has been discarded for quite some time. But Facebook Garnitures Dressmaker Ltee., check out their photos and keep going till you see the photo of their yarns and it's the pink ball in the 6th row of the 2nd column) so yeah...not helpful

1 Ball Mohair to match (same instructions as above)

Correction (November 2012): The yarn is called Patons Wool Classic in blush pink and the thin yarn is Patons Lace in the Pink/brown/black blend. Use size 8 (5mm) knitting needles. 

Instructions:

(Double up wool and mohair and knit with all four strands-->2 wool, 2 mohair. don't worry, it's not ridiculously thick)

1. Cast on 16 stitches (or 20. I found 16 made a nice width but that was also because I wasn't sure I had enough yarn. Turns out I didn't which is why the scarf turned into an infinity scarf).
2. Rows 1-4: Knit 2, Purl 2 across
3. Rows 5-8: Purl 2, Knit 2 across
4. Repeat steps 2-3 for desired length.
5. Cast off and weave in ends.
*NOTE: THESE ARE INSTRUCTIONS FOR A  NORMAL SCARF

*If you decide to make an infinity scarf:
A) Make sure you leave a long tail at the beginning of piece (at least 20 inches. I'm not kidding)
B) Knit until piece measures (just let me go get my measuring tape)..we'll call it...45 inches from beginning
C) Cast off
D) Crochet short edges together (I suppose you can always sew them together, but I am deathly afraid of sewing so a crochet hook is the next best thing. Crocheting is actually always better than knitting but hey, another time.)

Correction (2012): having finally mastered the Mattress stitch, you're still going to need at least a foot of yarn when you bind off, so you can always sew the edges together if you're afraid of crocheting. 

Enjoy!

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