Froggy's Funky Fun Scarf

Hello all my bloggerinos!

I recently spent some time knitting a scarf from my very first novelty yarn. I love it and its so colorful. I started out making it into a crocheted hat. Unfortunately that was one of those UFO's that never got finished. I guess in the long run that's just not what it wanted to be. On my trip to Sheepish I picked a pair of jumbo needles. Jumbo you say... yes... size 19 in fact. Its weird though, its like I knew that I was waiting on these needles and the minute I got home the yarn just hop, skipped and jumped on to them. (I encourage hopping when every I can =D )



Here is the humble beginnings of my scarf. I started out thinking I would do ten stitches but it seemed to small at first so I added five. Then I knit 1 row, purl 1 row to create the stockinette pattern. Once I was finished I bound off and lightly blocked it. I'm actually a fan of the curl from the stockinette stitch but thats probably because it adds to the scarf's novelty look. Plus, since I used stockinette instead of a simple garter stitch there is a lot of play in the scarf. It will be nice and stretchy and can be draped across the back or around the neck. Total length is 41 inches and width is 6 inches across. I added it to my Etsy shop yesterday and is my first finished item on Etsy! (i.e. not a supply which can be made into another finished product.)


I really enjoyed making this scarf. I'm even all riled up to make another scarf to add to the store in the next week or so. Will have to see how everything works out first. Comments are always welcomed!

Success!

In what I would like to call an amazing feat... i.e a miracle... I finished with my knit hat. There was even plenty of yarn to spare. The reason there was plenty of yarn was due to the fact that I made the hat a wee bit to small for my head. Well, unless I like a snug beanie. I'm overall happy with the hat just sad that I can't wear it.

On the other hand, I have to count my triumphs.
(I like lists.)

1. First hat

2. First hat, using no pattern

3. First time decreasing the crown of a hat (yay for internet!)

4. First attempt with DPN's (and successful too!)

5. First (and potentially only) knit project finished in less than a week. (3- 4 days depending on if you include the start day or count forward from it.

So, just off the top of my head five good things for one bad. And I suppose its not all bad since my son was very excited about his new hat that his mom made for him. In fact, as I was on my way out the door to work he said, "Oh you finished your... I mean MY... hat." To which the only proper reply is that it is indeed MY hat, its just to small for me so "I am letting you wear it." Now I know why my mom used to say she could never have anything of her own. =P
(Apparently he didn't take it off all day.)

When I get some extra money I am hoping that I might commission a remake of that color scheme from the seller. I know it wont be quite the same "dyelot" but I figured with what I have left in yarn and another four ounces in roving to spin I could make an adult size hat to match. TheBoy would be over the moon if we had matching hats and TheMister probably couldn't stand to be around us all that much. Too bad for him.

Taking a break between the madness

Granted this little break has stretched about 3-4 days but after all that moving I really was starting to tense up. So, as a little stress relaxer and treat (once I made it past the frustrating part) I finished spinning the roving I purchased from Julie Spins. Now I am attempting to free hand knit my first hat on a pair of circular needles. That's right, no pattern. I am just armed with my basic skills of knit and purl. I laugh in the face of common sense! Ha ha ha ha ha ha!


Okay, now that I have gotten past the madness I will get to the specifics. The first picture is the finished yarn spun into a 2 ply. I didn't bother to set the twist because I wanted to start knitting before I changed my mind.

Ohh, and this second picture is me daring to attempt a little pattern, some ribbing even.

Finally, here is my new craft area. Craft area and other stuff at the moment as we are still surrounded by packed boxes. Besides this is more like a storage area for the crafts I have. I just have to deconstruct, pick something out of a storage bin and take it in to another room to spin or knit or crochet. Yep, its much much (much) smaller than the space I was occupying at the apartment but its probably for the best at the moment anyway. Still, having a yard is a fringe benefit of renting this house that I'm totally going to take advantage of. (i.e. - Dyeing and Drying!)

semi-productive weekends

Mix and Mingle

I always want to do more than I could possible manage in a weekend. I want to spin and dye and felt and sew and and and..... well I'm sure you get the picture. I still haven't gotten a new camera but I figure thats going to be a little while coming. I did manage to find some half used mini-CD's that I can take pictures with in the meantime.
So two weekends ago (maybe three) I spun up some natural colored roving in a thick and thin single. Then... I waited. No particular reason other than I had to pull it off the spinning wheel in sets of 100. I spun 12 ounces and I got 250 yards. However, this past weekend was nice and lazy. So I took my yarns (starting on Thursday, so not quite the weekend) and began to dye them. I'm still experimenting with color combinations. I find that what I think will be a terrible combination, or what I just don't plain like, turns out really nice.

Antique

Like this one that I call "Antique." This is a combination of brown gold and blue. It worked out very nicely and really makes me think of the old flea markets where you can get nostalgic memorabilia. Another surprise yarn was a bit of a family decision. I was pulling out colors and started with violet. When I asked for opinions, I thought turquoise would be nice. My husband agreed. My son interjects (in the way only an eight year old can) "Black!" "Mommy, did you hear me, I think black is a good color!." After assuring him that he had been heard, I decided to mix all the colors. And thats how I got "Mix and Mingle." (pictured top)

I also dyed the remaining mohair locks that I have. I chose yellow and turquoise because when they meet its a lovely shade of green. These are colors I like very much. When I get more locks, it will have to be skirted and washed. Since these weren't I have spent a lot of time and energy picking, washing and picking more little hay seeds and grass and bits from them. Much less noticeable when washed but still annoying to deal with.

playground

All things given, it was a pretty good weekend. I'm hoping to get more done this upcoming weekend as well. I 'll have to see though as I will also be celebrating a 4 year wedding anniversary sans child. (Woohooo!.... oh, was I too excited there?)