Wrangling Loose Ends

The posts over the next couple of days will be short and sweet.

I have to say it was great fun seeing several Silly Scarf & Hat projects worked up. Love the super bulky yarn.

Considering what I'm seeing in fashion blogs and runway reviews, bulky knit cowls will be with us through next year.

When finishing, I've never liked the thick lump caused by weaving in a bulky loose end. But there's a solution: split the strand in two and weave in each half separately.

A Celebration

Today I have something very special for you, my Valentines.

No, it isn't a scarf. Instead, I've changed the price of my crocheted Scrappy Bear to … free!

You should have just enough time to make one for a special someone on the 14th. It works up very quickly using small amounts of yarn.

Click here to download the instructions for "Scrappy Bear".

Redux

Today we're revisiting one of the most popular scarves published on this blog to date: "Purple Peacock" by Angela Boehm.

We're doing this for two reasons. First and foremost, I have surgery Wednesday at (Holy Hospitals Batman!) 6:30 a.m. So Tuesday night I went to bed too early to finish creating the pattern for the scheduled scarf.

The second reason is that so many of you loved the scarf and the photo tutorial for broomstick lace. Doesn't Angela have beautiful hands?

Enjoy.

Click here to download the "Purple Peacock" pattern and instructions by Angela Boehm.

Laissez les Bon Temps Roulez

Forget the beads … you won't be showing them anything but your skills when you strut with the crew wearing "Mardi Gras".

A little ditty, it only takes 130 yards to whip up this scarf.

Despite and snow, this afternoon I trekked around the neighborhood with a pile of scarves around my neck. It was time to shoot some scarves for patterns. You know, I must be getting quite the reputation for being weird because no one stares at me anymore.

Click here to download the instructions for "Mardi Gras".

Behind the Camera

Thought you'd get a kick out of what I see through the camera lens before I crop to show only the stitching.

I shoot in front of an old fireplace. It looks a bit rough because it's 200 years old, and I'm renovating. Slowly. Very. Slowly.

I like to shoot here because I can tape and nail to the plaster because it'll soon (hah!) be gone.

Ideas, Ideas, Ideas

When you knit or crochet there's plenty of time to think. Or watch TV. Or a movie. Most evenings I get through the boring parts of the stitching with TV. I've tried talking books, but I lose my train of thought.

So, anyways, the stitching frequently leads to other stitching ideas. Bet the same thing happens to you. In fact, I bet that the number of ideas we have well exceeds the amount of yarn in our stash.

For those of you on Ravelry, I'd love to know just how many patterns are in your library, waiting to be stitched.

A tease: here's a scarf you'll see when the weather gets warmer. It's called "Open Windows".

Head's Up

What? You expected normal? That's just a setting on a dryer.

Over on Ravelry.com I have a group called Year of Scarves. One of the discussions invites people to tell me what kind of scarves they'd like to see, as well as yarn preferences and other details.

I got a request for a scarf with a hood. Tried that. Got bored.

The "Silly Scarf" hat fits most heads.

(And here's what I've learned making and selling hats at the Easton Farmers' Market: adult medium and child medium are the same size.)

The back of the hat has a short row so that there's a bit more warmth at the base of the head. And the ends are long enough to wrap around your neck.

Click here to download the "Silly Scarf" hat pattern and make your own.

Mulling It Over

I had no intention of including a felted crochet scarf in the 2014 collection. While many people do successfully created felted (fulled) crochet, I've been less than satisfied.

Throwing caution to the wind, and avoiding the label of being a crochet bigot (I actually crochet more than I knit), I'm including this scarf, "Felt Like Crochet".

And, for the record, it did felt quite nicely.

The felted piece did, however, sit on my cutting table for over a month as I puzzled over what I could do with it. The stitches are still slightly visible, which means there are tiny weak spots throughout the piece.

I wanted to take advantage of that. Only yesterday I finished a technical edit of a beaded jewelry book. And that got me thinking about beads … then jump rings (the round metal circles that you can open) … and so, here you go.

Click here to download the instructions for "Felt Like Crochet" and see how it's done.

Not a Brain Surgeon...or Actor.

The day slipped away from me. Before I knew it midnight was creeping up on me and I hadn't finished the instructions for the next scarf. So Wednesday's crocheted scarf,  "Gates", is free for a second day.

Posts and Gates

You can thank Taff for today's scarf. That's her Ravelry.com name or Ravatar, as it's called over there.  In the Year of Scarves group, she has been pointing out every time I release a crocheted scarf. So here you go. Another one.

I've been crazy for front and back post double crochet stitches ever since Jane Snedden Peever introduced me to Aran crochet. In fact, it was her design submission to a book I was developing, Crocheted Sweaters, that caught my attention and led to two books entire filled with her work: Aran Crocheted Sweaters and More Aran Crocheted Sweaters. (I still have a couple of boxes of first edition Aran Sweaters if you're interested in one. Order from huxley90 at Amazon.com.)

Anyhow, "Gates" doesn't have cables, but it's an excellent way to get used to working front post double crochet and back post double crochet stitches. Because single crochet is worked in the center of many rows you'll really get a handle on the placement of the posts.

Click here to download the "Gates" pattern and learn how it's done.

A Hole in My Heart...

…and a mangled cookie cutter. My plan was to fast-track the heart cutting by tapping a shaped cookie cutter through the scarf. The felted was too bouncy. And did you know a cookie cutter collapses really easily when you hit it with a hammer?

I made this scarf just a few days before Christmas. Like most stitchers, it's best to start holiday scarves long before that holiday arrives. This prevents the 11th-hour scramble to finish a gift on time.

Did you just snort? Me, too. It was just a fluke that I started early on this one.

I had a hankering for felting. I'm going to stop here because, although I'm not a stickler for specifics, I am about this term. Felting is packing loose fibers together. What us stitchers do with our knitting and crocheting is fulling.

It took a while to develop a nice ratio of red to yellow rows for "Heartless."

Click here to download the instructions for "Heartless".

Soul Searching

In mid-December, as most people were gearing up for a festive season, me and my husband were on a somewhat different trajectory. We were awaiting test results. Shortly after the planned launch of Year of Scarves we learned that I have breast cancer.

Now don’t suck in your breathe and start worrying. I’m one hell of a tough old bird, having already faced my share of adversity and health threats during my life.

What this means for you, the wonderful people who are playing along with my Year of Scarves adventure is ... not much.

This project is going forward for the entire year no matter what. I have helping hands and scarves lined up.

My Wonder Woman cape, however, is packed with my gear for surgery and later treatments (not traditional chemo; I won’t be so sick I can’t continue). But I won’t be working weekends. I’ll continue to blog those days. There will be fun tidbits and tips to keep you in the stitching mood.

AND THERE WILL STILL BE FREE, ORIGINAL SCARF PATTERNS TUESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY. This project and the interactions I’ve had with you have given me too much joy and pleasure to let slip away.

At the end of the year I won’t have 365 scarves in the can. But I will be alive, kickin’ butt, and have so many new, wonderful stitching friends.

Do the Wave

I wasn't planning to offer another crocheted chevron scarf so soon after "Zipping Along".

But, well, here it is.

Angela Boehm is so good at creating these—and coming up with fun color combos—that I couldn't resist.

Besides, the stitching is simple enough that you can work on it while watching the game this weekend.

Hmmmm….maybe "Odd Balls" worked up in team colors?

Click here to learn how it's done and download today's pattern.

Say What?

Angela Boehm, who has made a tremendous number of scarves for Chase the Chill, comes up with some really fun ones that I'll be sharing with you throughout the year.

Today's pattern shows two of them. They're the exactly the same, except for the colorways. She tricked me, because it took a bit of scrutiny to figure out that these scarves are based on the granny square technique.

That alone makes "Great Granny" and ideal project for beginning crocheters.

Click here to download the instructions for "Great Granny".

You Asked For It...Sort Of

The "Split Personality" two-color cable scarf featured earlier in January was so popular that I've created another fun cable for today, "Aran Braid".

It's easier than the two-color cable. Yes, really.

In fact, with each part a different color, it leads to an intuitive approach to understanding cables and catching onto the color- and row-repeats. I was thankful for this because it's about all I could handle while flat on my back in bed with a cold.

Click here to download the instructions for "Aran Braid".

Chicken Soup Didn't Help

Yesterday I was ready to kill every living thing in the house. The lone survivor would have been Cat because she runs too fast for me to catch.

Obviously,  I'm still battling a bug. I spent the day in bed,  blaming my husband for bringing home a cold, rather than prepping a scarf pattern.   So yesterday's free scarf will be free again today.

I have scarves ready, but take the photographs and format the instructions the day before release.

Up next...Not Fair Isle, but rather intense colorwork with a smidge of embroidery...Now on the blocking surface and coming soon to your inbox.

Unless this cold kills me.

Texture: This Girl’s Best Friend

I'm a texture girl. Colorwork is wonderful, but given a choice between, say, entrelac and Fair Isle, I'll go with the entrelac every time.

So it's no surprise that I went on a bobbles jag two years ago. Sometimes you just have to get these things out of your system. It wasn't until I entered my 30s that I truly understood that this was the motivation for many artists who create a series of work on a theme or technique.

Anyhow, back to today's scarf. It's a rather simple neck warmer that's just long enough to wrap around your neck and tuck into the front of your coat.

The bobbles add interest, and a knit loop at one corner wraps over a button on the opposite corner to keep the "Drops" scarf from slipping when worn.

The pattern includes a photo tutorial for a bobble.

Click here to download today's pattern, "Drops".

I Am Thankful...

...to be reminded, yet again, that there are germs in the world to cull the herd. Or, in this case, knock one particular gal on her back for a couple of days.

The free scarf offered on Sunday has been extended to the end of the day Monday. Apologies to everyone playing the game with me.

Come hell or high water, there will be a new scarf for Tuesday.

Fast and Furious: The Stitcher Sequel

Have you ever watched a Sheep to Shawl event? It's fun seeing the shearing, yarn preparation, and weaving coalesce as a finished piece in so short a time span.

Participating in one is exhilarating. My experience is with knit and crochet, rather than weaving, and the events have an abbreviated format: We start with clean roving that is ready to be carded and turned into yarn by a team of two or three spinners. As each batch is finished, it's handed to the stitcher. I've been lucky enough to do this at a zoo, near the farm animal exhibit, and at the outdoor Easton Farmers' Market.

Today's scarf, "Enchantment", is a spin-off (nyuk, nyuk) of the shawl pattern I developed for the 2011 event. Spinning started at 9 am, so my sticks were moving by 10. The piece was finished at 2 pm. Yes I’m fast, but the design, worked sideways, is designed for speed, repetition, and visual interest.

Go here for the complete instructions, including a photo tutorial for the one-over-two bind off.

Super Super Bulky Yarn

We're fast approaching the time of year when Polar Fleece goes on sale. These days, though, the material is so popular that unless you're right on the spot when the new price goes up, all you'll see is the well, really weird prints. Really. Weird.

Who in their right mind, for example, though it would be a good idea to print yardage with cartoon-like dancing vegetables? I was gobsmacked when I saw it. And had to buy it. That became my first fleece fabric scarf, knit in simple garter stitch. The colors looked super and the veggies disappeared when I turned the material into yarn.

That scarf went into the first annual Chase the Chill bombing four years ago. And I promptly forgot about it.

Then a friend showed me some examples of arm knitting. How cute and fun.

The really loose gauge, however, doesn't appeal to me. You can double strand two super bulkies. It occurred to me, though, that I could cut polar fleece to any width and use it as the yarn. And thus we have "To Arms".

Which you can download the instructions to by clicking here.

Round and Round

The yarn featured in today's scarf drove me bonkers. Come to think of it, designing the scarf did the same.

Who doesn’t love a soft, fluffy fur yarn in cheerful colors? Of course I bought it as soon as it caught my eye. The problem, though, was creating a scarf that isn't the same-old one- or two-color length of garter stitch.

I tried wraps. Big cables. Color blocks. Stripes. Nothing gave me that "Aha!" moment.

Deciding to give a lacing effect a whirl, I made small buttonholes, marking each one with a long fabric strip knotted into a loop. AHA!

Along the length of the scarf—and inserted while knitting the rows—are unattached loops that move and drape independent of the body of the scarf.

I called today's scarf "Free Wheeling". Click here to download the instructions.

Winter Wonderland

Winter is a wonderful time, filled with snowmen and skiing and crisp, fresh air . . . none of which I enjoy. It's freakin' cold here in the northeast.

The only solution is to bundle up. You can laugh in the face of the chill with this scarf, "Snowballs".

It's a quick crochet project that's worked with a bulky chenille and a join-as-you-go process.

Warm Snowballs. What a concept.

Click here for the instructions for how to crochet "Snowballs".

Damn that Stitch

Back in November of last year I wanted a colorful, spongy scarf with pronounced ribs. Brioche is a perfect match, so I set about teaching myself how to work it.

Overconfident sot that I am, I started with the two-color brioche. In the near future you'll see the instructions for that scarf. But, as I note in that pattern, do not … DO NOT… attempt the two-color brioche until you've worked out the basics with today's one-color version.

In fact, I resorted to the one-color version after a week or so of daily cursing sessions.

The brioche is a simple two-stitch repeat that involves three actions: a slip stitch, yarn over, and knit or purl two together. For brevity, this action is shortened to something like "syo brk1/brp1". I stumbled over these abbreviations.

As I researched, I also found that instructions leave out information that can make the process easier.

Another problem is the slip stitch. I didn't find any instructions that indicated this should be purlwise. After experimenting I worked this out. Now here's the kicker: Sometimes you need to slip a stitch knitwise.

Gaaaaahhhhhhhh!

Also, end-of-row counts usually count the yarn over and slip stitch as a single stitch. What?!

So. Today's scarf instructions are detailed. Very. Detailed. I hope that you finish "Brioche for All" in record time and wonder, "Why on earth did Susan find this stitch difficult?"

Click here to download the very detailed instructions for "Brioche for All".

Impatient Girl

Unconventional materials have been part of my textile art and retail products for a handful of years. I've worked with VHS tape, electrical wiring, Christmas lights, and the more common t-shirt yarn (tarn).

My husband, B, didn't even blink when I started cutting up some material to stitch.

The inspiration, as is obvious by the scarf's name "So Sari", are the yarns made with sari mill ends. The beautiful fabric scraps are plied with a long-beard conventional yarn, such as mohair or fun fur. It's gorgeous stuff.

I'm not keen on purchasing it when I want to stitch NOW. So I made my own.

Today's instructions explain my complete process, from yardage through to fastening off the knitting.

Click here to download the instructions for "So Sari".

Doing It Right

The January 10 scarf encouraged you to break the rules as you worked with the chenille yarn. You embraced its tendency to worm (loops working free of the finished surface by stitching loosely.

Today, however, I'm offering you a "Cuddle Bug". It's the exact opposite. The snug gauge and the stitch pattern combat worming.



Click here to download the directions to "Cuddle Bug".

Going Round and Round

It’s great when the piece you make is reversible. It’s even better when each side has a different, but just as appealing, look. You get two times the fashion statement with the effort of a making only one cowl. The effect of today’s pattern, "Swirls", does just that.

But those characteristics weren’t the launching point of the quest for a new design. I was playing with the two-color spiral crochet technique, applying it to hats I sell at the Easton Farmers’ Market. Like usual, this stitching led to a “what if” scenario that soon took on a life of its own. (By the way, this exploration pre-dates my I-cord obsession, which I mentioned last week. Coincidence? I think not.)

Click here to download the directions for "Swirls".

Oops...

There's a saying that goes something like this: "They don't know what you don't tell them."

In other words, if your presentation omits a bit of information, the only person who knows is you...unless the missing item is included in the class description or handouts.

I bet you know what I'm going to do now: Tell you what is missing.

A couple of days ago I decided to make my own fabric yarn, like the kind you can purchase that's made from sari material.

The scarf is finished, the how-to photos are finished. The tutorial explaining what—and how much—yardage to buy, as well as how to create continuous lengths of the fabric-yarn . . . they're all finished.

My photographer, Robert Gerheart, even created the most fantastic scarf shots outside in the dark.

The layout? I. Just. Ran. Out. Of. Time.

So today's offering, "Your First Project", is the fall-back plan. If you teach, go ahead and use it for the beginner classes to teach working a color repeat that doesn’t change at the same time as the stitch pattern repeat, as well as stockinette and reverse stockinette stitches, working sideways, and end-of-row color changes.

Click here for the directions to "Your First Project".

Twist and Shout

Do you own a cable needle? Or are you a cable-hater? Sure, the look is gorgeous, but sliding stitches onto the cable needle and then knitting them off after the twist bugs some people. Then there's another gang that avoids cables because they're bulky.

Today's scarf, "No-Cable Cable" overcomes these hurdles, with its two-stitch cable. It is so easy.

Click here for the instructions for the "No-Cable Cable".

Trending...

As a designer, it's important to keep up with trends: colors, textures, hemlines...the whole nine yards. Knowing doesn't mean the stitcher’s work has to be trendy, but it helps to know that, say, a certain color scarf won't appeal because it clashes with the color of winter coats on the rack that season.

After thirty-mumble-mumble years in the home arts, I'm noticing that the stitching and fashion worlds are colliding more often. Have you noticed all the super-bulky knitted cowls appearing on runways these days?

It's a fabulous look. But I'm cold sheep. And there's so little yardage on a ball of super bulky that buying enough can be an issue.

Here's my solution: triple strand. Like double stranding, all you're doing a holding strands together and working them as one. That's what today's featured scarf, "Triple Take", is about.

So, check out how to do it and download today's pattern, "Triple Take" here.

Enough About the Knitting

Last week was knitting, knitting, knitting. And a smidge of crochet. I didn't realize there wasn't a balance of the two techniques until the week was over. Odd, considering I'm more known in the crochet community.

To make amends, the "True Mobius" scarf is crocheted. And it's special because the way it's stitched adheres to the mobius principle. A mobius is more than a circle with a twist.

There are oodles of patterns that tell you to cast on—or chain—a number of stitches, give the length a twist, and then knit or crochet round and round. You’re building rows up from the starting point.

There are true mobius patterns, of course, but they aren't as common. And don't get me started on the patterns that are worked up in rows before seaming the ends together.

For a knit or crochet version, a real mobius starts in the center. It's twisted so that every round you work builds stitching on both sides of the center. This means every row has twice the circumference of the finished work.

"Ode to Hal" introduces the true crocheted mobius. I've included a photo tutorial for getting started, which is the challenging part of this project. The scarf is named for a friend, an engineer who is obsessed with sculpting interpretations of math shapes, equations, and concepts.

Click here to download the instructions and see how it's done.

Introducing Angela

I first met Angela Boehm when she joined Chase the Chill a few years ago. After learning about our need for scarves, she promptly bowled me over with her prolific knitting and crocheting. (Of course she does both.)

In any given year Angela creates hundreds—yes, hundreds—of scarves for the annual bombing and giveaway.

At one point, her quest for variety led to working her way through the patterns and stitches in reference books.

In addition to her generosity, I admire her willingness to try new things. Today's pattern, for example, evolved because Angela taught herself broomstick crochet, practiced, and then designed this scarf.

Angela has been learning about pattern testing, and is now dipping her toes into designing professionally.

Here's her "Purple Peacock" pattern.

What Happened to the Plan?

Flipping through a notebook I filled with stitched samples, notes, and photos about 15 years ago, I came across some mitered corner experiments. Among the samples is a scrap-yarn piece that's worked with a space dye.

I love the way that the long lengths of color give the illusion that there are multiple yarns. So decided to use this stitched scrap as the launching point for a new scarf. Since I had also been thinking about the log cabin quilt pattern, it seemed a good idea to combine the two, using three yarns. The finished effect certainly doesn't resemble the log cabin but, when playing around with yarn, I often end up somewhere I didn't intend to go. But it's "Just Around the Corner"...

Click here for the instructions for today's pattern, "Just Around the Corner".

Obsession

Do you ever get caught up in a process, technique, or type of yarn? It happened to me last spring. I went on a massive I-cord jag. Massive. For two months every time I picked up the sticks I knitted yet more I-cord.

Today's scarf is called "I Love I-Cord". Surprise…surprise.

The challenge with this project was to create I-cord  warm enough to be a winter scarf. Since I-cord doesn't work as well with more than eight stitches on the double-pointed needles, a single strand wasn't thick enough. Doubled yarn was too unwieldly.

Braiding was the obvious solution. Three strands wasn't enough. The four-braid process I settled on is shown and explained in the pattern instructions.

Click here to download them...

Long, Lean, and Curvy

Designed and stitched by Claudia McGill
Photo by Robert Gerheart

Boundless creativity. That's probably the best way to describe my friend Claudia McGill.

She's an amazing artist. If you live in or around Philadelphia or the Lehigh Valley there's a good chance you've seen her delightful ceramic houses. Or, perhaps, have taken a class from her.

Her artistic skills aren't limited to one medium. Check out her collages and her award-winning blog "Claudia McGill and Her World of Art".

So it was little surprise when she announced she had some "Scarfghetti" (her name for it…how fun) to drop off for Chase the Chill.

I couldn't resist showing it to you, so it became today's featured scarf.

Click here to learn all about how to make "Scarfghetti" !

Listening to Others

I had absolutely no plans to include "Baby It's Cold Outside" in the Year of Scarves. It was, instead, whipped up as another contribution to the annual Chase the Chill scarf giveaway and bombing.

My stitching group, which gathers every Saturday morning at my studio in Easton, PA, has a Chase the Chill  show-and-tell. When I pulled out this giant, pink, snuggly work the gals asked me about the stitch. It's just plain old garter (knit every row). The yarn makes it look trickier.

Well, chenille can be a stinker.

Click here to go to the pattern for "Baby It's Cold Outside"...

It Ain't That Hard

Are you tired of reading project introductions that tell you the stitching is a breeze? When you stumble, do you sometimes holler, "You lied!"? Maybe that's only me.

Laughing in the face of danger, I'm telling you that today's "One Color, Two Color" scarf, which features the fisherman rib, is easy. It looks like every row requires two colors, carrying and twisting as you go.

HA! Every row is worked in only one color. One. And the scarf is reversible—no floats on the wrong side.

The pattern is free. Download it. Try it. Prove me wrong. I dare ya.

Missing My Garden

The hyacinth stitch took my breath away the first time that I saw it. Only a black and white photo of a swatch, it still held such beauty. I found it in an old stitch compendium.

At first I thought the stitch had an impact on me because I was yearning for my spring garden.

But, no, it's the elegant movement of the yarn strands, and the dimensional effect that captured me. "Dreaming of Spring" is not a scarf for beginning stitchers. If you tackle this lacework now, however, you'll have an exquisite accessory by the time the flowers are budding.

Click here to download the directions to "Dreaming of Spring".

Chicken and Egg

I learned to crochet before I knit. Luckily, though, my grandmother made sure I was introduced to both knitting and crocheting while I was still young enough to learn to enjoy both. So I can't say I have a preference for one or the other.

That's why you are getting free instructions for both crocheted scarves and knitted scarves. In fact, I've made both knit and crochet versions of quite a few stitch patterns. This knit pattern, "Dreamweaver", is a good example.

There's been a bit of a struggle, however, deciding the order that I'll release projects. Do I present the knitted version one day and the crocheted interpretation the next? Or put one out there and give the date that the other will be released? What do you think?

Click here for the "Dreamweaver" pattern instructions.

Light at the End of the Tunnel

Since January 1, I have become a clock watcher.

As the midnight hour speeds toward me like an out-of-control train, I continue preparing the next day's offering.

Since January 1, I’ve only had to stitch one scarf, "Diva’s Boa", as the rest were made well before the start of the year. The how-to photos, instructional clean up, layout, and upload are executed in the hours leading up to the release.

And so it is with the no-purl cowl. It's just shy of 8 p.m. as I finish the how-to photos for the wrap-and-turn tutorial.

Ever the optimist, I'm certain that I'll have a normal schedule because I have managed to shave off an hour or so each day.

And leaving you with that thought, here are the instructions to  today's aptly named scarf, "Zipping Along"...

A Confession

I do not like purling. Not one bit. Except for k1-p1 stitch patterns because it's fun to flip the yarn strand to the front and back of the work with every stitch.

You know the Michelin Man shown in commercials? He needs a circular scarf, not the long, plain one on the original rendering. I achieved the effect with wide unblocked ribbing. But I'll be damned if I was going to work purl rows.

For a change this scarf didn't go through endless iterations, perhaps because the technique for short rows has been part of my repertoire for decades.

Click here to check it out and download the instructions...

A Boa Without the Novelty Yarn Price Tag

Dipping a toe in the water is for wimps. It's best to run off the end of the diving board at full speed. Without diving lessons. And so it was with today's scarf.

Browsing through an old version of The Harmony Guide to Crochet Stitches (yup, reading charts and symbols for pleasure) I encountered the astrakhan. It immediately became the featured stitch for a t-shirt yarn (tarn) large rug project had been percolating.

What I like about this long, loopy stitch is that it's more secure than the common loop stitch and makes it possible to stitch up a boa-like creation usually reserved for novelty yarns. It adds excitement to a plain yarn, stability to a weaker core, and loop volume to a lighter weight yarn.

Click here to download the instructions and learn how to make your own...

Color vs. Technique

What happens when a cable isn't the primary feature of a scarf? In a single color, cable work takes center stage. Although I'm more of a technique/stitch/process kinda gal, in my mind's eye I saw color taking center stage for this scarf.

Development was easy because, after all, this scarf is nothing but a central cable flanked by seed stitch. I didn't even swatch. The project took way longer than anticipated, however, because people kept buying the scarf before I could take photos of the finished piece. And that's why the yarn for the how-to photos in the pattern are a different color.


Click here to download today's pattern and see how it's done.

It’s All About the Sheep

The vision was a scarf that used both knit and crochet in a meaningful way.  Having recently completed several morning glory vine-like scarves, I wanted this new project to represent an ivy-covered trellis. But it was not to be.

The trellis yarn needed the strength to hold its shape when saddled with the weight of the vine, and enough grip to prevent the woven vine from slipping around. But Briggs & Little Heritage looked so pretty that I pitched out the ivy concept. Maybe for another scarf.

I've always loved this strong, warm B&L yarn that's spun from the sturdy creatures residing on Canada's east coast.

Click here for the instructions for today's offering.

Scrappy Scarf

Over on my Years of Scarves discussion group on Ravelry, my friends have been telling me I need to give them enough lead time to make themed scarves before the event date. So here you go. You have an entire year to collect the materials to make this baby. That's what I do.

Your assignment: As you knit and crochet your way through 2014, save all of your yarn scarps. Anything 6" to a small ball. Don't worry about coordinating colors, textures, weight (thickness).

At the end of every year I create a scrappy scarf to celebrate what I've made that year, either knit or crocheted, by jumbling all the yarn ends and odd balls together and then tying them together end-to-end.

The complete process is explained in the instructions on Ravelry, here.

I did four of these last year. This wasn't because I was fine tuning the pattern. I kept selling them before I managed to take photos to include with the instructions. (The first scarf was part of the Chase the Chill bombing). A gift shop owner saw me wearing  the next and bought it right off my neck. The third was in the gallery at the Family YMCA of Easton, Phillipsburg and Vicinity, for an exhibit of Chase the Chill scarves being bombed that year, and photos of past years. That one didn't make it to the end of the show.

The first year I made a scrappy scarf, at 32 stitches, it was too wide.  But I still like them really, really long. They need to be for visual balance with all the ends dangling.

My final bits of advice: Don't sweat the small stuff. And find some child slave-labor to tie all the ends together. Plug in a movie. They’ll be fine.