Thursday, November 21, 2013

Knitted Scarves

First off I would like to thank everyone for their input on my last post about how you deal with comments received on your blog.  It has all been most helpful, and I'll be altering how I deal with comments a bit in the future!  If only we had one of these handy volumes to guide us through these little grey areas of virtual etiquette!

 
Dear Emily Post and her 73 published editions of this "Blue Book of Social Usage".
 

Unfortunately, this edition printed in 1945 doesn't cover blogs.  I started reading through little bits of this book this morning, and became thoroughly engrossed in it all.
Anyway ... all that will be dealt with in time.  Today I want to show you my finished scarf for my sister!  I wrote about it in this post, and this week I was thankfully able to get the thing off my needles (just needs ends woven in and blocking).
The scarf measures about 7" wide and 65" long (just shy of the 68" suggested in the pattern).


 
The pattern was very easy, but I just found it so monotonous knitting the zig zags for some reason.  Maybe because I stuck with the knitting for longer periods of time than I normally spend sitting down.

 
I wanted to finish it before other Christmas projects, so I pushed through to the end, and finally just sat down and spent all of Sunday working on it and finished it up.  I'm a fairly slow knitter, and this took me two weeks to finish.  And there's the tiny ball of leftover yarn.  I couldn't decide whether to knit through one more pattern repeat or just finish it off.  Not knowing exactly how far that tiny ball would take me, I decided to play it safe and bind off ... I'd had enough of knitting this anyway ;)

 
I really like the bamboo yarn, but had a few too many spots where the yarn had "torn" and I had to break it off and start a new row.  Luckily, I only had to rip out maybe half a row at the most when one of these annoying tears suddenly appeared.  So now it's ready to deliver to my sister, who conveniently has a birthday next week.  Although we don't normally exchange gifts, perhaps this one time she'll overlook that and be surprised that I actually finished it!


 
Whenever we go to sewing/knitting shows together we make a pact that we can't buy anything new unless we've got all our WIPs finished!  It works for me. 
 
And now I've started on the Christmas stuff.  I want to make my daughter an infinity scarf, and although the yarn I purchased for that came with a pattern for one, I wanted to make up my own pattern.  I started with a "scroll stitch" which looks really nice with this blue yarn.  The only problem is that after one repeat of the pattern, I noticed the scarf had become "scalloped" along the bottom edge. 
 
 
I had knit only a couple of start-off rows because I want to sew the two ends together when it's finished.  But I think the scalloped edge will make it difficult to do this neatly.  Does anyone have experience with this sort of problem?  I don't want to knit too many plain rows at the beginning and end because I don't want there to be an obvious join when it's sewn together.  If I can't figure anything out, I'm going to have to work out some other way of doing this.  The scroll pattern was perfect for this yarn too, as the colours and the pattern together make it look like waves (difficult to see in the photo on this small knitted bit). 
 
I must tell you too that when I went back to the dollar store to pick up two more knitting boxes, I found these handy plastic clipboards that fit right inside the box. 
 
 
 
Perfect for me who likes to tick off finished knitted rows on a piece of paper.  I can also clip the pattern to the board as well and have the whole little package nestled in the box for knitting times.
 
 
 
 
 
Just another little organizational thing that's pretty too ;)


 
And now I'll leave you with a photo of the fish tank all set up with fish, who have transferred to life indoors very smoothly.  Cody seems to like this spot too!  One feature we hadn't planned on was that we can see the shadows of the fish swimming by on the front door (you can sort of see it in this photo).  An odd little surprise ;)
 
That pretty fish in the centre with the long flowing tail fins is one of two shebunkins (the other one is facing away on the far left).  Shebunkins are such pretty fish and every time we bring them indoors we're amazed at how much they've grown!  The rest of them are goldfish.
 
Well, that's me all caught up for now!  I have a rare day off today, and will be working on my surprise that I hope to share with you in a few days.  I just hope the hydro crew working around the corner at one of those big electrical boxes keep the power running today (unlike yesterday ... on!  off!  on!  off!).  I saw them there again when I came home from walking above pooch, and immediately plugged in the kettle for tea ... just in case!
 
Thanks for stopping by everyone!
 
Wendy
 
http://www.gsheller.com/category/yarn-along
 
 
 

19 comments:

  1. You are so creative and are always making or doing some interesting project. I am sure your sister will love the scrarf.
    You have me curious about the subject of your previous post and I am off to read that post next.

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  2. Hi Wendy the scarf you made for your sister is just gorgeous-I love the colors in the yarn allot and the pattern.
    That's cute that your dog found new spot to sleep-cute and I love how your tank looks-very nice with the fish.
    those old etiquette books are very interesting to read-and lets us know how much our society has forgotton over the years
    enjoy your day
    Kathy

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  3. Your sister's scarf is beautiful! Hooray for finishing! :-)

    Your daughter's will be lovely toooooo.

    As to Blog Etiquette, NO, please. No books on it. Remember my motto.... All aspects of our blogging, should be fun. How can we have fun, if anyone at all, is making Rules for us? Nope! Like in most aspects of life, I make my own Rules in blogging. :-))))

    The fish tank and all, are super. Just one more thing. Cody needs a cushion in his nook. Right? Right? Right?

    Tessa~

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  4. Hi Wendy, the scarf is beautifully knitted, I love its pattern. And, the other scarf is going to be a lovely too.
    Cody has found new friends and a place to rest :)
    have a wonderful day - Gaia

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  5. Wendy, I love the zig zag pattern of this scarf! It is beautiful! I want to make one too! What I like best about the color you chose is that it will go well with both brown or blue eyes, especially blue eyes. That gorgeous scarf will make any pair of blue eyes stand out! The fish shadows are actually pretty funny, Wendy :) Enjoy your day off! Take care ~ Stacy

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  6. I so love the scarf you finished for your sister...it is stunning! I am sure she will love it!!! And the infinity scarf you are starting for your daughter is gorgeous as well! The color is fantastic! I wish they had an etiquette book for blogging...it sure would help with all the grey areas like you said! And your fish look beyond happy in their new home for the winter! Well done all the way around...cant wait for the surprise! Happy day to you friend!

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  7. Whoah, that scarf looks complicated! I haven't knit in so long but I hope too, soon. Also, love the colors, very versatile!

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  8. The scarf is gorgeous, you did a beautiful job with it. It looks like everyone is very happy with the new fish tank situation, including the furry friends of the fish. :) I would love to take a look at that Emily Post book, what a great thing to have.

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  9. Maybe you should write a guide to blogging etiquette - I, for one, would buy it! The scarf is lovely - such pretty colours. I love it - fish tank and dog bed combined!!! Take care, Suzanne XX

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  10. Ooh, lucky sis - that scarf is simply gorgeous, well done. I'm trying to catch up with blog reading so must now go and read your last post as I too have deliberated regarding what the etiquette should be when it comes to comments. And Cody does look very comfy, guarding the lovely little fishes :-)
    Happy weekend,
    Xx

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  11. Your sister's scarf looks gorgeous Wendy and I'm sure she'll be thrilled to have it and wear it, and I also like the blue one but sorry I can't offer any help in regard to the wavy edge! The fish tank looks even better now the fish are in residence and how cute that Cody has decided to settle in there. I did notice on a previous post how he seemed happy to be in that spot while you were busy with the painting and I thought it must be his place already and he was about to lose it to the fishes! He is gorgeous! Your book on etiquette looks very interesting and would surely be helpful in lots of areas. Have a great day!
    Warm hugs, Joy x

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  12. My mom had that book and I've wished she still did or that I'd gotten it when she got rid of it. It would be fun to read.

    I love your scarf. It's beautiful!

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  13. Beautiful yarn! I love the organization. Never thought to use a clipboard!

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  14. The scarf has turned out beautifully, I'm sure your sister will love it, as for the joining of the ends for the cowl, I'm sure you will be able to join it neatly enough if you use mattress stitch. The seam could be placed at the back of the neck but, I'm sure it will be ok, I look forward to seeing how you overcome this dilemma. The fish look really happy in their new home and so does Cody lol, I love the fish shadows an added bonus! :)

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  15. September Violets. Thank you so,so much for taking the time to help me. I think I might have to wait until I go back to the Uk to join up with other lovely group projects as it said the server could not be found when I tried to join in earlier. I don't want to feel like the girl left out of the PE team.... Or even the las picked!
    I love your scarf and that idea of the clipboard inside your WIP basket is inspirational. I always want to jot down something or other. I write it in notebooks and then lose the notebook or can't make head nor tail of it as it is not with the relevant piece of work. So, thank you for that too .

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  16. Oh Wendy, what gorgeous colors! I am sure they will be well received!! Hazel x

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  17. Beautiful scarf Wendy what a lovely way to share your skills with your sister. Love your organisational skills - the clip baord and the finishing Wips before buying more!
    Your unique pattern for the infinity scarf looks great - love the wavy line, hope you find a solution!
    How cool to see the fish shadows - I love things like that - that just happen without planning!
    Ali x

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  18. Your scarf is beautiful Wendy, I am sure that your sister will love it and that it will be of benefit to you both. I love how Cody has adopted that spot under the fish tank, it is just the right size - are you sure that your hubby didn't plan that!! Just kidding. xx

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  19. I love the yarn you used in both scarves! It's beautifully, subtly varied colouring is a delight. The yarn breaks you mention, oh but that is so frustrating! I can do one or two of them gracefully, but I get downright cranky when there are more than that. Your organizational skills are an inspiration!

    The aquarium and hand rail look FANTASTIC! And now I want a shelf-dog and shadow fish too :-) Cody is adorable, and the shadow fish are cool.

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