Jury's still out...but I think I like it!!!

Thanks for all your comments and suggestions about the fruity scarf I showed you last time. I finished it last night and after a good blocking and a fifty-ways-to-wear-a-really-long-skinny-scarf session in front of the laundry room mirror, this psychadelic Easter scarf is really starting to grow on me...


So I'm going to hold off on dying it for a little while to see if I fall in love with it's fruitiness come spring. The pattern is chevron scarf from Joelle Hoverson's Last Minute Knitted Gifts. It calls for 4 skeins of sock weight yarn total, but I only used 2 and ended up with a 74" scarf (just 3 inches shy of the 77" the pattern calls for). I used one skein of Knit Picks Sock Memories in paper dolls and the other in the hawaii colourway and knit the whole thing in 4 days using my very favouritest Crystal Palace bamboo straights in US 5 (they're the short-ish 8 inch ones with the balls on top pictured in my last post).


I love those needles so much which is strange really, because I usually don't feel comfortable using straight needles at all. But there's something about these that just feels so right that I can not put them down. This is a quality that makes these perfect for scarf knitting, a project that can get tedious really fast. But not with these babies!


Though to come back to the scarf, I must say that this very simple pattern (4 rows, 3 of which are just plain old stockinette) was completely addictive to knit in and of itself (if you've ever considered it and then decided not to make one because of the sock weight yarn, go for it, it's actually knit on US 5 needles so even though it's sock yarn, it comes together pretty quickly). I love the little scallop effect it creates at the ends of the scarves too. As I laid it out for it's photo session, I noticed that the little scallop at the top would be just right for a mitten top. So naturally, I had to cast on for a pair....

And now for something completely different! Jujube and Lolo playing tennis in the street with their toddler buddies from across the street (their dad is a Canadian tennis champ in the 35 and over category)! This was the first time they took over the street and Stephen and I got such a kick out of it. There's nothing cuter than tots with rackets ;0)

One last thing...did you sign up for the Ravelympics yet? You have to sign up before AUGUST 7 to participate officially. I'll be competing in the Sweater Sprint event. I'll tell you more about my project when I cast on dunring Friday's opening ceremonies ... it's so exciting!!!

One fruity scarf

So the Olympics are coming in a few days and since I had nothing on the needles and since I can't start my Natalie Coat (I'm knitting it as a present for my sister as my official Ravelympics project) I thought why not use up some stash yarn and cast on a simple and mindless project...


Meet my chevron scarf. The pattern is from "Last Minute Knitted Gifts" and while I would not normally knit a 77 inch scarf out of sock yarn (!), somehow I felt compelled to rescue a bunch of skeins of Knit Picks Sock Memories sock yarn from the "what was I thinking" section of my stash arrangement.

The colours look nice on their own (they are paper dolls and hawaii), but combined together in the two-row stipes called for in the pattern... I REALLY REALLY HATE THE COLOURS!

I started it late at night by the incandescent bulb of my night stand lamp and it didn't look too too bad in the orangy light...but come morning, ouch! The colour is not my cup of tea at all. It's sooo Fruit Loopy, but not in a good way. I considered frogging the 10 inches I had already done. But then I figured I wouldn't want socks knit out of this stuff either so I kept going. And going. And going. The whole time hating the colour more and more.

Then it hit me: Kool-Aid! I've never tried dying yarn. And I certainly haven't tried overdying a scarf knit from sock yarn before cause let's face it - that just sounds crazy! But I think that's what I'm actually going to do.

I googled overdying and have already decided to go for Kool-Aid or Wilton cake dye since I want to use cooking utensils and will be cooking the scarf indoors where we will all be smelling the dye aromas for a while.

But other than that I've got nothing! Anyone have any tips, resources, and advice to share? I'd especially appreciate colour suggestions ;0)

Please help me save this scarf...

An (almost) perfect scarf

I've been looking for the perfect cabled scarf pattern to use up the super cooshy Knit Picks Panache I've been stashing for some time and came across 144 inches of i-cord's Manitou Passage Scarf quite by accident this morning. It's perfect! It's reversible! Love it!

Naturally, I cast-on for it right away...

It's a surprisingly quick knit (considering it's all 1x1 ribbing) and creates a really plush and thick fabric. Sadly though, I'll have to frog it back because this baby is a real yarn-eater! I got about 6 inches of scarf out of a full ball of Panache...and I only have 4 balls in the stash. That means I would end up with a 2-foot long scarf which isn't halfway to the ideal wrap around length I covet!

So it wasn't meant to be this time. But I will knit this scarf again someday just as soon as I get some yarn for it. In the meantime though, my search for the perfect cabled scarf for my panache continues...

Maybe I'll cast-on for a Besotted Scarf. I've been on such a Hello Yarn kick lately... might as well complete the collection, no? I really like Smariek Knits' Persephone Scarf too but think it would also use up more yarn than I have. Though it is also on my to knit list. I think it would be awesome knit up in a nice soft alpaca yarn...

(See how good I am at the distraction thing? That's a whole post without once mentioning that my little lolo still hasn't made his grand entrance yet! He did give us a bit of a scare today though so dada and I spent the afternoon at the hospital. I hadn't felt him move all morning despite a big breakfast, a bath and a big lunch! And then when my blood pressure reached an all-time high of 160/98 we decided to make a trip to the hospital. Thankfully, everything was fine. Baby is well an my blood pressure settled down. We have to go back for a follow-up tomorrow but it looks like everything is going to be all right)