Farrow Rib Keyhole Scarf

Malabrigo is such a yummy yarn, I wanted to knit something that I could get some good wear out of, that I could wear close to my neck but not end up as bulky. Hubby recently used this stitch to make a cowl for his father-in-law and I loved it, so I took the pattern and worked up a quick and easy pattern for a keyhole scarf that fits snug around the neck and is warm without being bulky. And the best thing is it takes just one skein of Malabrigo Worsted!

Needles: I used US8 and it made a nice fabric.
Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted in color Emerald, though any worsted would work just as well.
Gauge: Not terribly important.

Cast on 30 stitches. You can use whatever cast on you prefer. I just used long-tail, though I think casting on in K2P1 rib would make for a cleaner edge in retrospect.

K2 P1 every row. (This is a very easy to remember stitch, because it's the same on both the right and wrong side!) Continue until you have about 4-5 inches of fabric.

To make keyhole, K2 P1 twice, then bind off the next 18 stitches, then K2 P1 the last 6 stitches. On the next row, K2 P1 twice, then cast on 18 stitches (I just used backwards loop, but I'm sure there are other methods), then K2 P1 to end.

Now just continue K2 P1 across every row until scarf is as long as you want or you run out of yarn. I used less than a full skein but you could use a full one and it'd just be a little longer.

Voila! A quick, easy, yummy-warm scarf to get you through the rest of the winter months!

Bad, bad blogger.

I'm a bad blogger. I know I am. I've just had a lot going on, and most of the people that even care about my knitting actually see it weekly .. twice, some of them. but I need to get back into the routine of blogging. It's something I really enjoyed doing, after all.

So .. what have I done? Well, there's a surprise gift for a certain James, that I really need to get around to mailing .. and let me just randomly say that I love the spellchecker feature of the new Firefox version. It knows when I meant to capitalize something. I'm working on a sweater now .. that I've had to rip back more times than I care to think about, and it's still not gonna be perfect but dernit I'm not ripping back that far again. I've started a wrap with sleeves designed by Stitch Poet .. the Wrapigan .. and I'm loving it and the pure alpaca it's being knit it. just a loose enough gauge to be a little loose and luscious, but when it's worn and washed and blocked that yarn will bloom into fluffy yumminess, and I look forward to that.

Hmm. What else. Oh! I learned to crochet. Like really and truly learned, and even made something with my skillz! I was hating my hair one evening and crocheted a quick headband to keep my annoying flyaways from tickling my face. Go me! And all thanks to MissMe .. who never updates her blog but I forgive her because she's always so busy.

There's also a mystery project that I can't safely talk about because its recipient might actually read this, so I'll just have to say that it's coming along .. slowly but surely it's coming along. If I knit more than I played World of Warcraft it might be further along .. but that's my stress relief, for now.

SAFF is coming up fast. We need to get our hotel soon, because we're planning on making a weekend out of it. I know that with money tight I can't buy much .. and to be honest I don't need to buy much becuase I already have so much yarn. but I do want to pick up some stuff from The Unique Sheep, from Miss Babs, and from Brooks Farm. Other than that, I intend to just look and drool, and to find Annette at the booth for the Skein and Garment Competition and sit there and knit a while, so I won't be tempted to buy everything I see. I have a very large stash, honestly, and I don't need to go spending money I don't really have.

Speaking of Annette, she's going to have a baby! Which means I have a baby to knit for! Yay! Despite Marie attempting her baby juju on me, Jason and I have no desire for a family now, so the only baby knitting I get to do is either for charity, or for someone else's baby, so the fact that Annette is having a baby is a delight. And not only because it gives me someone to knit for .. more especially because she really wants a child and now is going to get that wish.

So Smart!

So, Jason got me this pattern, right? It's beautiful. Ilga Leja's Sea Urchin.

I swatched for it. Really swatched! Washed it, blocked it, everything! And I got gauge! So .. the now daunting process of knitting the thing is all I have left. And I was all ready to begin .. when I read the pattern. Increase every second row, fourth row and sixth row .. huh? What is this, German?

*sigh*

I was determined though, and after casting on and knitting up to the point where I needed to actually figure out the increases, I knew I couldn't just stop. So I took out a lovely little journal I found on my bookshelf, and began to write the pattern out. Once I got to those pesky increases, I wrote out every row. All 39 of them. And started trying to plot the increases. Including how many stitches they would leave me with.

Three revisions of said writing later .. thank goodness for pencils and erasers .. I'm pretty sure I've got it written out correctly. At least now my written out destructions mesh with the pattern and the errata to the pattern that I found. I end on the correct row, and with the correct number of rows knitted after the final increase. I'm trying to decide now if I want to make the sleeve just a little longer.

I feel so smart!

PS: If you're interested, I posted in my boring blog a very very long, photo-gluttonous post about my flowerbeds.

Spring Knitty

It's been out a few days, and I've finally managed to decide which patterns I'd really like to knit. Not that I don't already have a huge queue for Knitty patterns but .. isn't that why we all love Knitty?

Jaden
Nob Hill
Yosimite
Honeycomb
Salto
Laminaria
Brighton
Spirogyra
Marjorie
Posey - Just because I think they're an interesting construction.

Winter Knitty

Ice Queen
Quant
Tudora
Chevrolace Socks
Azure Socks
Jeanie
Modern Lace Henley

Previous Knitty Issues

This post is backdated just because it's meant to be a way for me to keep track of all the Knitty patterns I eventually would like to try. I will eventually go through Ravelry and add them to my queue

Fall 2007

Muir
Henry
Roam
Cherie Amor
Neiman
Mr Greenjeans
Foliage
Totally Autumn
Back to Basics Socks
Diamond Waffle Socks
Oblique
Juno Regina

Summer 2007

Tangerine Twist
'Vog On Socks
Sweetpea Socks
Unmentionables

Spring 2007

Carolyn
Isabella
Dashing
Queen of Cups Socks
Vanilla Spice
Victoriana

Winter 2006

Calorimetry
Legwarmer Socks
Emerald
Venezia
Brown Bag
Thermal

Fall 2006

Ivy
Lizard Ridge
Cable Net Socks
Intolerable Cruelty

Summer 2006

Fetching
Widdershins Sock
Universal Sock

Winter 2005

Pomatomus Socks
Starsky
Mrs Beeton
Thula Socks

Fall 2005

Pumpkins

Spring 2005

Soleil
Branching Out

Winter 2004

Tempting
Wine Cozy

Fall 2004

Cozy
Clapotis
Leaves
Leo

Summer 2004

Hush-hush

Spring 2004

Honeymoon Cami
Frill

Fall 2003

Sonnet