Lookee! I made a crazy-ass version of the Danica scarf from Knitty.com. As soon as I saw the pattern I knew it would be perfect for using up all my scraps of Cascade 220 leftover from other projects. The main plum color was from an unused skein I picked out when I bought too much yarn for my entrelec purse and could only get an exchange, no refund. I liked the color and had no idea what I would do with just one skein of it. Now it is a keeping my face warm in the polar winds of Ohio. Woop!
I decided to use the plum as my main color and alternating rows of a Cascade 220 Quattro in pink/purple/green/blue and the heathered green as my alt color with random triangle/squares of the other scraps. But I was majorly paranoid that I'd space them too far and have to cram all the scraps into the last few rows. So I guessed at how many triangles and/or squares of each scrap color I could get, then figured out how many repeats of section 2 I wanted, drew the scarf, and used my niece's colored pencils to create a chart of the scarf before I started. Then I had to lie down because I scared myself with the overplanning and OCDness of the whole thing.
When I started this scarf I wasn't sure the colors I had from different projects would work together but I think they do. I think the 220 Quattro from my Clapotis helps tie them all together. It really should be blocked, the bind off edge is all wonky, but it's cold and I want to wear it. I feel very Single Girl in the City when I wear it even though Dayton barely qualifies as a city and other than the scarf pretty much every day I dress more like Single Girl Trapped in Lane Bryant - long sleeve vneck tshirt, jeans, Danskos. I am boring but now I have my pretty, pretty scarf to fool people into thinking I am stylish and colorful.
In other project news, I started my first cable project - a cabled knit purse in Knitpicks Sierra. It's basically the pattern nbenedick posted in this thread at the Knitty coffeehouse but I modified it slightly. She started with a RS row and had three cable forwards on every 8th right side row. For the life of me I couldn't get that to work out where the cables were evenly spaced within the 64 rows of the pattern. After checking out some other cable patterns I reversed the pattern - started with a WS row - and did the cabling on Row 4 and then every 8th row after that. Plus I switched the middle row to a cable back just to get practice doing both.
I'm really digging the cabling. I find the cable back much easier but all in all it's about as simple a technique as you could do. I have yarn to make two pink, one cream and one black purse right now. The plan is to sell them with the profits going to my friend Lisa's Avon Walk fund.
I'm undecided on joining the Knitting Olympics. I have some gorgeous Merino Stripes yarn that I bought to make the entrelac wrap shown on Knittique's web site and technically I haven't started yet.
(Oh, I took a picture. Let's all oooh and ahhhh at the pretty yarn. Plus a bonus look at my girly flowery sheets.) The pattern doesn't give a gauge, just two recommended needle sizes and a finished size. I started on the smaller and didn't even get a row in before I frogged it and put it aside. I really don't like knitting fuzzy yarn but I love the way it looks when it's done. But starting and finishing it within the time period of the challenge will really be a challenge. I'm working a second job most nights until after 9pm so I really only get to knit on Tuesday nights and weekends so the cabled purses and the socks I knit when I need a break from the purses would all have to be ignored for two weeks. That would be sad for them, don't you think? Then I'd have neglected, depressed yarn hanging out in my bedroom, blasting Alanis and Jewell and begging for my attention. That can't end well, can it?
the scarf looks fabulous. great stashbusting!
Posted by: Sara | Wednesday, 25 January 2006 at 03:07 PM
Love the scarf, and the rest of your blog too! :D
Posted by: Ariel | Thursday, 26 January 2006 at 01:48 PM