Knitting Again

The weather has cooled substantially this week. I'm feeling like knitting again, yay!

I've finished the sashings on the mitered baby afghan. It now measures about 36 inches square and is ready for an outer border. I am still deciding how I want to work the border, but I'm leaning toward a simple one of solid blue. I think it should be a bit wider than the sashing strips for a balanced look. I will do some swatches to try out some variations of color and width. Then I will decide how to attach it, log cabin style using 14" straight needles or one continuous frame using a long circular needle or two.



I was browsing around over at Borders this weekend. I originally went there to find some magazines and ended up wandering the aisles of books as well. The toddler was with me and so we spent a good period of time in the childrens section exploring the things that interested his little boy sensibilities, mostly books with attached wheels that allowed him to play with them as if they were cars. I found this little gem of a book, the Toddler Owner's Manual, laying out-of-place on a shelf of little stuffed toys. It's filled with a lot of helpful hints for the 'reprogramming of your toddler unit'. This is a cool book, even if you have previous experience with the 1-4 year old crowd, and is filled with humor. I highly recommend it.

Micheals was having a sale so we paid them a visit as well. Stash enhancement is always a good thing :)

I saw a sample scarf knitted in Lion Brand Fancy Fur hanging above the yarn display there. What a cool texture that yarn has, just the thing for my niece. The yarn band has a pattern for a one-skein scarf, but the scarf in the photo didn't look as large as the store sample did. After consulting with fellow shoppers, who agreed that the sample looked more generous, I bought 2 balls in the 'Flaming Fuchsia' colorway.

I started a little swatch using 8 stitches on size 13US/9mm needles as indicated in the pattern on the yarn band. I didn't like the narrow width of the piece and I didn't like the way the stockinette stitch curled, making it even narrower. I want this scarf to be a practical garment that will actually keep the girl warm in the winter, so I made it up as I went along.

Fancy Fur Scarf

Using those size 13 needles, cast on 16 stitches.
Row 1: Knit
Row 2: Knit
Continue knitting in garter stitch until you're about to run out of yarn from the first ball and attach the second ball. Continue knitting until you have about a yard/meter of yarn left . Bind off. Weave in ends.

Finished size about 6 inches wide and 34 inches long. The scarf stretches lengthwise when worn and is quite comfortable in width and length for cold weather.