Scarves, Anyone?
Scarves; I love scarves. They're so warm and colorful and pretty - least in my world they are. They can be worn with a winter coat as a fashion statement or to protect one's facce. Nowadays, they're even worn year-round just as an accessory. This time of year, I never go anywhere without one.
In this spirit, it's been a scarf-making factory around these parts the last few weeks. My favorite this year has been the Gathered Scarf, which became my go-to project for this Christmas season. In total seven were knitted, all using lovely sock yarn found on Etsy (another of my weaknesses - I must stay away from there unless I honestly have money to spend). A few did not manage to have their pictures taken before being given, but here is a small collection.
It all started with this little guy; one of my coworker friends asked if I would make a scarf in her favorite colors, yellow and pink. I agreed, but then felt guilty about not making anything for my other coworker friends. Considering it this is my final year in school, and most-likely my final year of seeing all of them since after they finish next spring all will be returning to Madagascar, making lightweight-yet-warm scarves just felt right. Something colorful and pretty and light enough to be worn in any weather.
I had to be a little sneaky since I didn't want everyone to know I was making the scarves for them. I found ways of discovering their favorite colors and began. Of course, I then got to thinking of how nice it would be to give my good friend and my roommate scarves, too, since it will be possibly our last year together as well. So on I went buying even more yarn in their favorite colors.
Then what did I do? Well, I bought a skein in green and made one for my sister's birthday, and made another for my RA. I was a little nervous about the one made for my RA because it was this rather pale yarn in a mixture of yellow, cream and pinks (you can see it here, next to another lovely skein of sock yarn I bought which was also made into a Gathered Scarf. Sock yarn for socks? Yeah, right. :P). To my surprise, she was thrilled since they were what she called her favorite colors.
Finally there was the third coworker scarf. This one was only just finished today, because I failed to notice I had put my home address and not my school one on the order. Opps. Am just hoping she likes it. :)
Basics
Pattern: Gathered Scarf
Yarn: various hand-dyed merino sock yarns I bought off of Etsy.com
Needles: US size 4 and 7
Modifications and Notes: I started by casting on 24 with the size 4 needles, worked in garter stitch for six rows, then switched to the size 7 needles. From there I basically worked in-pattern, except that each garter stitch section was six rows while the size 7 sections were 8 rows each.
With this scarf comes the last of the Christmas knits. So what to do now? Why, make another scarf, of course! This time I used a skein of yarn that has just been sitting pitifully in the stash since the summer. I played around with a few pattern ideas and finally came up with something.
(Waiting for some tassles with the leftovers)
Happy knitting, all!