Fringy Suede Scarf

This long textured scarf was inspired by the yarn. The suede feel and natural colour reminded me of a suede jacket I had in the 80's that had a row of fringe around the chest and shoulders. I wondered if I could knit the fringe as I went, and tried casting on and casting off 10 stitches at the start of every row. A really easy project, and quick knit on 6mm needles.

Yarn: Lion Brand Suede, 3 - 85gram balls.

Needles: 6mm (US 10).

Pattern: Cast on 25 stitches. Row One: bind off 10 stitches, Knit the 15 remaining. Turn.

Row 2: Cast On 10 new stitches at the start of the row, then bind OFF 10 stitches, and knit the remaining 15.

Repeat row 2, adding a new ball of yarn when you run out, until the length desired or almost all of ball three is done (mine is 7 feet long, and I used only half of the last ball).

Last row: cast on 10 stitches, then bind off ALL 25 stitches. weave in ends.

Funky, fringy, cool.

Future Projects!

Just found this project on Elann! The Pinwheel Sweaters! I think it would be great for using my stash! I have several balls of worsted weight superwash merino, and other odd balls of same weight! I will gather together these and start knitting in a pinwheel after the Christmas knitting is done. If you don't have a stash to gather, I would recommend the kit... what a great price and a cool project. Only $30US.

I am working on a cool scarf using Lion Suede. I snagged 3 balls at Michaels for $3 each. I really like the mocha colour. It looks like real natural suede to me. Here is a peak at the scarf so far.

Pattern to follow, so stock up on Suede!

Mail-Yarn and Bobble Scarf

I whipped up the bobble scarf in ONE HOUR!... it is only 5 stitches wide and four feet long, and light and cute!

I also got some mail-yarn while away, and here it is. It is from Elann, ordered days before my trip on a huge full bag sale. 10 balls of Elle Elite, wool-cotton DK yarn in teak for $15! (sorry, sold out quickly). It has a cottony feel, but is 50% wool, so should be warm and easy to knit. I am planning a short sleeve, cowl neck pullover, maybe with a bit of a pattern stitch to amuse me. Still have some gift knitting to finish, so may be a bit delayed on this one.

Arizona Knitting!

Sorry to step away from the blog for a week, but we were in Arizona, for golf and sun and fun... and although not too much knitting was being done, I did manage to find a lovely yarn shop in Carefree, Arizona. The place is Bonnie's Yarn Crafts, and it is LOADED with lots of yarn and wonderful ladies. They even engaged my hubby in chatter about where we are from and things other than yarn (great instincts on their part!). I found some cool sock yarn ....

Classic Elite Yarns, Alpaca Sox. It feels so soft. Here feel it....

And also Gnocchi, from Lana Grossa, a bobbly yarn for fashion scarves. One ball makes a scarf, so I snagged three! Knit on fat needles, you cast on 4 stitches and knit back and forth until the yarn is done! You only catch the skinny part of the yarn and let the bobbles hang free. Photos to follow really soon, as this is a QUICK knit!

Here is me, looking for my golf ball in the desert... what an amazing place to play golf.The lush green fairways are surrounded by desert and cactus! A cool contrast that never got boring to me!
And of course, the roadrunner made an appearance!

Quick I-Cord Headband

I am growing my hair a bit longer, and have taken to putting it in a short ponytail when busy working on my stuff. I like the look of those skinny headbands, especially when worn in twos or threes. I bought some in the past but found they were SO tight, they slipped back and hurt my head! So I dove into my stash and found some leftover Esprit (cotton with lycra stretch) in black. The pattern is easy:

Yarn: stretchy worsted weight (suggested knit on 4.5mm needles)

Needles: two 4mm *double point needles* (or one size smaller to make a tight cord that still stretches)

Cast on 4 stitches: Knit across row. WITHOUT turning slide the stitches to the other end of the double point needle and starting again from that side, knit across row. Instructions for I-Cord knitting is HERE.

Repeat I-Cord stitch until the length is about one inch short of length to go around head (without stretching) then bind off and stitch ends together.

I will make a few more of these, in several colours. EASY!

Lost and Found

While I can't show the work in progress (Christmas surprises) I do have a cute tale to tell.
Rick and I were golfing on Sunday, and it was a bit overcast, so he was trying to find his non-tinted glasses (the ones he keeps in his golf bag for days when he can't wear his sunglasses - which he also keeps in his golf bag). They were not there! Rick always has two sets of glasses in his golf bag to cover all weather conditions, and had used the sunglasses almost exclusively for the last few weeks (lucky us, a sunny fall). So he grabbed one pair from the car (of course he has clear and sunglasses there too!). As we played, he wondered where he could have left these glasses. He came to the conclusion over breakfast at the club, that he may have wandered into the club with them, and removed them to eat a meal, then left them on the table by accident. I asked which frames they were (he has so many) and he thought the black metal with the plastic arms. While he was changing shoes in the locker room, I asked the waitress to check the lost and found for black frames.... There were not in the basket where they toss the lost glasses, although there were LOTS of lost glasses! Oh well.
As our meal arrived, the hostess (knowing we were in the glasses business) asked if we knew where they could donate these lost glasses to a good cause, and I told her we collected them up and sent them twice a year to Cuba and India, and other points of need. With our check came a bag of specs for donation!
When we got home, Rick found the black glasses in the Truck (two more pairs there) and realised that the missing golf bag glasses were the rimless brown frames. The waitress did not look for THAT frame.... so we opened the donated bag of glasses ... and there they were!!!
Funny how things sometimes work out.....

Inukshuk Kit on the Net!

I have been plugging away at Christmas knitting, and the photos will be lacking due to the wow factor of the recipients! No need to spoil the surprises, right?

For those who have thought of making the Inukshuk from this blog, I will again offer the kit on eBay, including the pattern, all the yarn and the pre-cut foam shapes, numbered and ready to knit and assemble. Since the Olympics are only a few months away and the symbol for the Vancouver games is the Inukshuk, I think the time is good for more Inukshuk knitting to be done! To that end, I give you the link to the eBay kit sale, HERE, and the link to the pattern for the Inukshuk doll HERE, and lastly the Inukshuk sweater HERE!
Hope all your Christmas knitting is progressing well, and you manage the stess of the season as best you can. I like to plan ahead, and shop on the net (hate the malls in December). Keep things simple, that's the secret! Remember, life is more about who you spend time with, not what you spend money on! The joy of the hours spent knitting, the rhythm of the needles, the feel of the yarn in your hands, that is the true gift. Your time and your heart. Who would not love hand knit socks after all that. Happy knitting!