It's almost Christmas! Which means it's scarf time.

Cold weather and Secret Santa exchanges often demand it. Some knitters bore of it, as it is really just knitting in a very long rectangle the same thing over and over again. But you know, when you've written a 12 page paper on constitutional law or finished a homework assignment about delta hedging stocks, it's really all you can handle.


Scrunchable Sunshine (ravelink)
pattern: Scrunchable Scarf
yarn: Malabrigo Worsted (one and a half skeins)
needles: US 10 / 6.00 mm

Perfect. And just in time for these grey, grey wintry days. Sometimes, when I need a pick me up, these brightly colored scarves do just the trick. This and my Noro Striped Scarf do a lot just to make me feel a little more cheery.

Then there's the Secret Santa exchange... I don't usually knit with anything heavier than worsted, but in this case, I think it was called for.


Chunky Brioche Scarf (ravelink)
yarn: Cascade 128 Superwash, 2 skeins
needles: US 11 / 8.00 mm

I kind of just winged the pattern, casting on 18 stitches and just going at it with a brioche stitch. I fretted for a while about whether it'd be long enough. It turned out plenty long.


I really love it. The yarn is really soft and the brioche makes the scarf super squishy. I think I'll have to knit one for my self, though probably in a different color. I'll probably go down a needle size, too. I think it's a little too open.

The exchange was yesterday, and it was well received. :) Though, the recipient was a little perplexed as to who made it for her!

Anywho, I reckon I should return to my plethora of papers. Or maybe I'll knit some more. Who knows!

Repetion

I don't know if it's because I'm just getting back into knitting. Or maybe it's because I'm a little stressed this year, and the easy repetition of doing the same thing over and over again takes a load off my mind.

Whatever the reason, I've just been absolutely in love with knitting scarves.


Olivia's Brioche Scarf [ravelink]
pattern: Berlin Scarf
yarn: Dream in Color Classy in "Blue Lagoon"
needles: US 7

The yarn is beyond perfect. It's squishy, beautifully colored, sproingy, soft, defined and omg I want moar.

I meant this for Olivia's Christmas gift, but the brioche was so addictive that I finished it before I even realized I cast on. Oh well.

And in other scarf news,


Yes that is Malabrigo, and yes it is the best yarn in the whole wide world.

Hello again

Knitting has been sparse lately, but after a visit from Amy, the knitting!love was renewed. (Thanks a lot, Amy. And I say that only half sarcastically.)

So, there has been a lot of knitting. But as always, no time to really blog about it. So I leave you with the first FO in a very, very long time...



Scarlet Gretel (ravelink)
pattern: Gretel by Ysolda
yarn: madelinetosh, tosh worsted in Vermillion

I've wanted one of these for a freakishly long time, and I finally have one! I'm so ready for fall, people. So ready.

Just a small note on this: I knit as directed except I had to fudge with the decreases a little. It kept puckering, and in the end it just bothered me way too much. So a little frogging, and little fudging... voila!

Now, it just needs to be cold enough...

First New Project of the Year

I am sick.

The weather here has taken a turn for the worse lately, and I guess I've been a little stressed with recruiting. So. I got sick. And now my back aches. I don't know how my illness caused my back aches, but somehow, it did. And now I am suffering.

Anyway, yesterday, I went to my boss's baby shower. I found out maybe three weeks ago, and I deliberated for a while what to make for the baby. I considered a sweater, but then I couldn't really decide on a pattern. Then, I remembered the plethora of yarn I had left over from Noah's blankie and thought this would be a prime time to use up some more of it.

I thought about making another Log Cabin, but I wasn't really feeling it. I knew I wanted garter stitch - it had to be something I could do mindlessly while I watched Law & Order. So I came upon the idea of knitting three strips and use each color for one really big block. I sketched a schematic and that resulted in...


Crayola Blankie
pattern: My own
yarn: Bernat Super Value Acrylic
needles: US 9 (5.5 mm)

I was really happy with the finished outcome. It was basically all I had imagined it would be. There was a little bit of weirdness though with gauge. The yellow, for some reason, came out more loosely than the other yarns. I couldn't really figure out why. It required a little bit of adjusting, but in the end, I ended up with the right number of rows.

Here's another picture of the whole thing laid out. Pardon the poor coloring; it hasn't exactly been sunny here in New York City.


It was received very well, and I was praised for my use of bright primary colors. I do hope she finds a good use for it.