Day 90 and Rouche

I'll take a new picture in daylight. This looks like a blob, but in person it's so classy and subdued.

This very classy cowl is a cinch. And it has many little cinches built right into the knitting with decrease and increase rows. I made mine short and grafted the ends for this comfy cowl, but this easy stitch would look fabulous as a long scarf as well. Check out how ridiculously easy this pattern is:

Size 19 needles
1 ball TLC Amore (held doubled throughout)
Tapestry needle

Cast On 20 stitches.
Row 1-10: Knit every stitch.
Row 11: K2tog 10 times. (10 stitches)
Row 12-13: Knit every stitch (10 stitches)
Row 14: Knit into the front and back of every stitch (20 stitches)

Repeat rows 1-14 until you have the desired length. Graft the ends for a cowl or simply hide the ends for a traditional scarf.

Day 89 and the Cowl Braid

In an effort to do more than just fur with the toy knitting machine, I found that fingering weight yarn actually plays nice with the clicking stitch maker. I fed my yarn (nearly 4 ounces of it) through the machine and ended up with a long tube. Coiling the tube around my arm twice first, I began weaving the remainder back and forth through the first 2 loops. This creates a continuous braid. A quick graft at the end and it really has no end at all!

If you don't have one of these machines, but do have endless amounts of patience or a desire to practice knitting in the round, you can easily make a tube in the traditional way. The machine made a tube that was 21 stitches around, but if you're making yours by hand you could do any number of stitches. I suggest making them looser than you would for socks so that your cowl will drape readily.

Day 88 and Toyeticity

Back in the 90s when I was slightly younger and much more into cartoons, there was a short-lived show called Freakazoid. It was hilarious. Clearly written for an audience that was just a bit too old to be watching cartoons, there was a lot of humor that I appreciate more now that I'm a bit older.

The show mentioned a word: Toyetic. I really don't know if it was a real word prior to this series, but it surely must be a word by now! It basically describes a thing that could easily be made into a toy specifically if that thing had been seen on a TV show. Now, I don't think a knitting machine has ever been seen on any TV show, but it certainly does make for an interesting toy.

A very thoughtful cousin of mine had a toy knitting machine in her possession and gave it to me knowing that I was a yarnhead. The Sew Easy Knitting Machine. It's purple and pink and the yarn that comes with it is furry and purple and pink. This was obviously not marketed to boys. Anyway, I've been struggling with myself over what to do with this piece of equipment for a while. I tried it out a couple years back with rather unpleasant results. It skipped horrendously, it made loud frightening clickity clackity noises, and the resulting tube came out the bottom with nowhere to go since the tabletop would get in the way.

Here it turns out I wasn't using the darn thing correctly! I was following the directions! It turns out, I had to only use eyelash yarn, remove the handle and feet, and hug the thing against me while yanking on the resulting tube from underneath. It wasn't nearly as bad as it sounds, but it seems to me that the poor thing is only good for making tube scarves and really nothing else. I'm glad I tried it out though, and I'll probably hold onto it and play around. I'm sure there is more that I can do with a tube once I've figured out how to get other yarns to play nice with this bizarre piece of toyeticity.

Combination Contest!

At the end of February I caught a rather nasty flu bug and was out of commission for an entire week. I did manage to complete my scarves, but I did not have the energy to host the giveaway that I had been planning.

This month therefore, I'm playing catch-up. On April 2nd, 2 persons will get to choose a scarf to call their own. One person will be the belated February winner and another will be our March winner.

There are many ways to enter:

--Leave a comment with your email address written in this format
AwesomeEntrant[at]domain[dot]com (it helps prevent spammers and do not worry because I do not save or sell your email address to anyone for any reason. I only use it to contact the winners.)

You can earn more entries by mentioning the giveaway or the 365 Scarf Project on other social media outlets you enjoy using. It's okkay to do all of these things in one comment as I'll be tallying the entries by hand.

--Mention and link to this giveaway or the 365 Scarf Project in a blog entry. Leave a link to the mention in the comment.

--Facebook about the giveaway. Leave a link to your status message in the comment.

-- Tweet about the giveaway. Here's the phrase " I entered to win an unique handmade scarf made by @Nerdytogether! RT to enter! http://ow.ly/4oGP7 "

That makes 4 ways to enter. Do as many or as few as you wish. Entries will be accepted until the end of day March 31st. International entrants are welcome.

I'll enter all the winners by hand into the list feature of Random.org and whoever comes up in the number one slot will be the February winner while the person in number two will be the March winner. Each winner will get to choose a scarf from their month.

The winners will be announced and contacted on April 2nd at 10 AM.
GOOD LUCK TO ALL!

Day 87 and the Tuft

So maybe you're not feeling quite so bold as an entire mane. That's okkay. You could go with something a little more subtle like the tail tuft. Here is a nice plain scarf that's been kicked up a notch with some of our crazy fur yarn, but only a little bit at each end. You can always work your way up to the top of the pride. ;D

Grab yourself any plain scarf. It could be knit or crochet or fleece or purchased. Knit or crochet a rectangular panel for each end that will match the width using whatever fur or eyelash yarn you've chosen. Sew it on with matching thread. It doesn't even matter which way the stitches are oriented as long as it looks nice to you. Couldn't be quicker or easier! It's also a great way to use up that last half ball of fur yarn that you might not otherwise get to use.

Day 86 and the Mane

There's so much novelty yarn out there and it can be hard to make something that doesn't look like every other novelty scarf out there. I mean, let's face it, fur hides pattern and texture, so it's no surprise that most fur scarves look exactly the same. At the very least we can change the style. This snug bright red looks like a lion's mane!

This is a garter stitch piece, garter being the best stitch to prevent the fluff from matting, made into a cowl. Size 19 needles with one eyelash yarn and one smooth worsted yarn over 30 stitches makes a cowl that when finished is rather deceiving. It ends up longer than wide, but it will stretch to fit over the head and snug around the neck. When you're judging size, be sure to test it around your forehead. Nothing is worse than completing a cowl that you can't get on!

Day 85 and B-Ball

I had originally hoped that this would be a more elaborate macrame piece, but since I stuck with easy knots, this ended up being much more laid back. It looks to me like a fresh and new basketball hoop before being installed and turned dingy gray. Happily, this scarf will stay fresh and new looking since I won't be leaving it out in the rain on the playground.

This was very easy to do. I used 6 i-cords and each one was about 3 yards long. In the same alternating pairs method I used for the finger knit scarf not long ago, I made square knots until one of the strands was too short to use. As with most knotting situations, one strand always ran out first and even though they all started the same length, the other strands never seemed to run out at the same time.

Because the cords are so long, this is another good opportunity to use the embellish-knit if you happen to have one. Be sure to use a much thinner yarn than you would normally so that the end scarf has some drape and soft comfort to it.

Day 84 and Audrey

During construction, I was imagining the iconic picture of Audrey Hepburn in the black dress with pearls.

I'm at the point where thinking up fast scarves to do in between more in depth scarves is possibly more difficult than construction. Ideas are hard. Techniques are easy.

For this scarf, I made a handful of crochet chains in black and tied the bundle together at each end. With bright white i-cord lengths, I wrapped the cords around some of the chains at various intervals and crossed them into figure eights before connecting the ends. I ended up with something rather avant garde which could easily function as a lariat style necklace as well as a light weight scarf.

-Also, Curse you, weird horizontal lines!!!!!

Day 83 and the Baby Rainbows

This is a lovely large shell crochet pattern plucked from Stitchionary 4 (wow, I really love this series. I expect I'd love the harmony guides too, but I don't have those, so I'm biased and good at using run-on sentences). I used a size I hook and simply soft which I don't like at all for knitting, but I love it very much for crochet.

I switched colors on every DC row (check the book for the pattern on page 95 "Fanfare") and made a rainbow. Because each of the shells is rather wide, it appears to me that it's a rainbow of tiny single colored rainbows! Awwwww!

Day 82 and the Faux Plaid

I don't know how to weave nor do I have the equipment. Thankfully, I can fake it pretty darn well with certain crochet or knit stitches. In this case I used a very easy crochet stitch and did chain rows vertically to finish.

Stitch pattern:
I used a size I hook and simply soft for the pictured scarf.

Cast on multiples of 2.
Row 1: SC into 4th chain from hook, *ch 1, skip 1 chain, sc into next chain,* repeat to end. Ch 2, turn.
Row 2 and all following rows: *SC into chain space, ch 1* repeat to end, ch 1, turn.
Change colors as often as you like. My stripes were 2, 4, or 6 rows wide, but I changed the widths at random.

Make note that for row 2 the final chain 1 is immediately followed by a chain 1.
With the same hook slip stitch into the fabric for the vertical stripes. Again make as many or as few as you like and space them however you see fit.

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Are you kidding me? LOL I finished this whole post last night but never hit the post button. I only noticed because I'm sitting down to make today's (3-24) scarf post. How ridiculous am I?

Day 81 and Smocked Fingerknitting

It's not really smocking because it's not a solid piece of fabric, but the idea is the same. I made a ridiculously long bit of finger knitting and folded it in half, then in half again, and in half one last time. Then using little bits of pink, I tied knots to make the long folded length behave as if it were a solid piece.

It's very very soft. It's surprisingly thick. It was really fast. It's totally original (not for the whole world, but for my repertoire ;) )

It's also a pretty decent cheat if you haven't figured out the solomon's knot stitch in crochet. Lord knows it took me a darn few tries to figure it out.

On a partly unrelated note, what the heck is up with my camera? Every time I scale an image down I get those weird horizontal shaded lines. I'm thinking I might have to spring for a new one soon. The flash doesn't work at all, the video feature won't allow more than 2 seconds of video, the focus may or may not work completely on a whim. I dunno, I just hate getting rid of things when they still function at a most basic level. Bah!

Day 80 and Waste Knot (See what I did there?)

I loved working with my tiny scraps so much I thought I'd make one in crochet. Something interesting that I noticed was how very different they looked. The changes in the knitted version were far more subtle and in the crochet version they became large blocks. The much taller and far fewer double crochet stitches on a size N hook made this a completely different scarf. I do feel however that the mixed colors are more apparent.

In the knit version they blurred together more, but in the crochet version every single color was distinct. In the future if ever I'm concerned about how three colors will look together, I'll grab a giant hook and make a swatch. It will become very clear, very quickly if I'll like the outcome.

Once again, scraps were as small as a meter and I used up quite a lot! The scarf is heavy, thick, and though it's becoming nicer here and I can't really test it out, there's no doubt it's quite warm.

Day 79 and Waste Not

I am not a hoarder... but I'm probably pretty darn close. I can't stand tossing all the short pieces of yarn left over after a big project. It just seems like such a waste. Well, I figured, why not use those bits? Using 3 yarns at a time and size 15 needles, I did a basic 1 x 1 rib and when 1 of the 3 yarns ran out, I just tied a knot with another bit of scrap and kept on going.

Since there are so many different colors (in fact, some of the bits are less than a meter long) The little knots happen often enough to look like they belong. For me they are a little marker that says "LOOK! This is the beginning of a new color! Enjoy the new combination!" When I first started, I was really afraid that this would be nothing but ugly, but now that it's finished, I am completely in love with it. I can't even describe how the very random color changes make me squee.

Day 78 and HandBraided

As I explore the uses of finger knitting, I think it was pretty obvious to use the technique in some of the same manners as one would use I-cords. The strips aren't really i-cord, but are similar enough in the way the finished lengths act to be used the same way. The biggest difference is of course that finger knitted "tubes" are so darn BIG! With standard i-cord a 3 strand braid would be so skinny one couldn't really call it a scarf at all, but with the fat loose finger knitted strands, it's a soft, malleable, draping item.

If using a smooth yarn like this, the large loose stitches are actually quite breathable and comfortable as the weather starts to warm back up. You could sew the ends in as with knit or crochet, but I thought letting them hang like tiny tiny tassels was very cute in this case.

Day 77 and Fingers

I've never actually done this before and I had to watch a youtube video before I knew what I was doing.

Finger knitting it turns out ISN'T just knitting with four fingers. It's a similar, but distinct technique. While most of us only have four fingers, I also see no reason why this technique couldn't be done on a knitting loom over any even number of pegs. I'm sure these lengths could be expanded upon in other ways so this is definitely something I'll explore further. Hooray for learning something new!

If you only use your fingers you will end up with a very very skinny scarf. In the picture, it's doubled before draping.

Day 76 and the Big Drop

I haven't done a nice drop stitch yet, have I? And I still have this ribbon yarn that I picked up a couple of days ago!

Again it's Gala which I found at the outlet store and with size 15 needles and 15 stitches, I knit even for 4 rows to start. I did a drop stitch row (yo twice after each stitch), the knit even for 3 rows, repeating those 4 rows until I was clean out of yarn.

Drop stitches really show off shiny novelty yarns extremely well, and this 4 foot scarf is a perfect little blazer scarf. Lightweight and drape-y and it's really a shame I don't own a blazer! haha!

Day 75 and Solomon

Kevin and I got back home around 7 pm and it was just enough time for me to whip up the scarf I was planning for yesterday!

It seems you can find suitable yarn in the darnest places these days. I was shopping at Big Lots (it's an overstock store) and it turns out they have yarns that are specially labeled for them! Lion Brand had a yarn called "Fun" or something of the sort and it was a basic craft yarn. There were also a number of novelty yarns for a very low price. Novelty yarns are nearly always made of some combination of acrylic, rayon, nylon, and other synthetics and these were at the peak of the bell curve with the best of them. I picked out an interesting ribbon yarn called "Gala."

The tough thing about ribbon yarns is not to hide them all folded up in small stitches. This is especially tricky with crochet as the knots really scrunch that yarn up. An excellent stitch pattern with lots of drape and space for the ribbons to remain free and loose is the Solomon's Knot. I've also heard it called the Lover's Knots and the Trellis Stitch. Lots of videos are available on Youtube.

This was made with 8 loops to start and the basic diamond orientation which will create rows of 3 diamonds. One ball of my found yarn made a 6 foot scarf which was plenty long for my taste and since each ball was only a dollar, I was more than happy to foot the bill. On top of this, since the stitch is very lacy and open, it's an ideal stitch pattern for spring and summer.

Day 74 and Necessity

On a whim because Kevin and I both had two days off in a row, we decided to pack up an overnight bag and spend an evening and a morning with my parents and younger brother. I even packed up enough yarn and tools to make scarves for today as well as for tomorrow. It turned out that it was the one bag I didn't pack in the car.

Thankfully, my mother has always been the crafty type and there was a huge bulk of yarn scraps and many of them were already formed into these little yo-yos. Mom wasn't planning on doing anything at all with them because they were slightly curled around the edge. Some easy chaining and free form crocheting offered up this result. I love the completely random colors and the many different sizes! I'll have to do something like this again with circles of my own design.

Also, wow. I don't think I've yet come this close to missing my deadline! Yikes. Soldier on, Craft Colonel!!

Day 73 and the Corset

Here's a fast easy way to enhance a plain fabric. Tulle comes in ribbons as well as in bolts and this is a perfect opportunity to use up some tulle ribbon. A plain fleece fabric that needs enhancing ony needs evenly spaced snips through which the tulle may be threaded. For this scarf I did 10 snips in 2 rows of five and they were about 2 inches apart in any direction. Lace them up as you would a shoe or a corset and use either matching colors or contrast colors depending on the look you're hoping for. So very very easy.

I'm a little bummed out that I haven't had the chance to finish the other scarves I've been working on. Every daily deadline seems to come faster and faster. Good thing I have 2 days off coming up. Thanks for the support, friends!

Day 72 and the Knot

It's really amazing how a basic scarf can be something completely different with the slightest change.

This is a basic garter stitch scarf. What makes it special is a basic overhand knot at each end. Granted, you can only do this with gauzy loose weave scarves or the knot could potentially be a lethal weapon, but when you know it will work, it's magic.

20 stitches on size 35 US needles, 1 and a half balls Classic Elite "Lagrange" and about 7 feet long before knotting. Those knots really do take up a lot of length so make sure to knit about a foot longer than you want the finished scarf to be.

Day 71 and the Keychain

So named because I was inspired by those little leather keychains and their peculiar woven construction.

This was made of many pieces and each piece was cut in the same way. A circle was cut on a fold so that about 3 inches of the circle remained connected at the fold. If you were to open each piece it would look a bit like a sleep mask. Keep it folded and fold it in half again but in the other direction and make a cut in the center. Both layers will have a horizontal slit. Do this for all the pieces you need for as long as you'd like your scarf to be. One layer of the next piece gets threaded through both layers of the piece before it. When you have only one left, cut an additional slender length of fleece. Fold it in half and poke the fold through both layers of the final piece. Thread the loose ends through the loop to secure the final piece.

That was wordy, but some day I intend to take pictures of the step by step because it was a fun and easy scarf to make.

Day 70 and Fairy Dust

Do you ever see photographers who specialize in child photographs and make little fairy scenes with wings and wands and whimsical whathaveyou?

I was actually trying to gather all my threads and yarns and bits of tulle and bits of fleece and find a way to use them all up. It took me minutes. Literally. When the idea struck, I completed this scarf in under ten minutes. Cutting the bits into lengths and a foot and a half (that's half a meter) longer than I wanted the scarf, I tied very simple overhand knots at regular intervals to keep all the bits together. As a result of my fiber and color choices, the result is a rainbow fairy scarf. This picture is terrible so you can't really see the tulle, but it mellows the bright rainbow yarn and there are also some bits of ribbon to drape around. I'll likely fiddle and fluff this up over and over before I'm completely happy. Possibly that's a positive statement about this kind of scarf. It's never really permanent.

Day 69 and BINGO

I can't believe I didn't think of this sooner. This has got to be the fastest, most adorable, least messy ways to paint.

All you need is either fleece, t-shirt, or a pre-made blank scarf and a couple of bingo daubers. They're very inexpensive and you can usually find them at dollar stores for 2 to 4 to a pack. If you or someone you know plays bingo regularly just ask to borrow them! They're sure to have lots of colors to choose from. Just make sure to daub on some scrap fabric first to test how long it takes to dry, how much pressure to put on the fabric, how much it bleeds through (use some newspapers to protect your surfaces), and how the color of the fabric affects the color of the dab.

Then go to town! Get this kids involved. This would be a very fun party craft for anyone to participate in and have a keepsake to take home.

Dot Dot Dot Dot DOT!

Day 68 and Cloverfield

No not the monster! An actual field of clovers! This is a pretty crummy photo actually, but each blip on the thin green chain is a clover motif. I made it up as I went along and I can't say it's a very good pattern. I'll try again sometime definitely, and I'll do my best to make it a more reliable pattern. Then I'll be able to share with you. Until then I know there are other flower chains that are similar and done in green, you'll be prepared not to get pinched on St. Patrick's Day.

Meme!! Sometimes I'm an attention hog!

I lifted this getting-to-know-you style questionnaire from Fal00la over at Crafty Addiction. She's a fun gal on twitter and I enjoyed reading her answers and learning about her so much that I STOLE THE QUIZ! How very evil of me. But she lifted it from PuNk rAwK pUrL so I guess it's not as evil as I thought. Anyway: The ABC's About ME! A is for AGE: I was zero in 1982, I'm 28 in 2011, I'll be 50 in 2043, and I'll be 100 in 2083. Yikes! B is for Bed Size: Full. C is for Chore you Dislike: Dishes! Thank goodness I don't have to do them That's Kevin's chore. D is for Dogs: None, but Kevin and I do have a pair of gerbils named Crushinator and Killbot. E is for Essential start to the Day: Sleeping. I always wake up, use the bathroom and go back to bed for a little while. What a lazy bum I am. F is for Favorite Color: Purple. But I mean really who can pick just one? G is for Gold or Silver: Gold because it looks better with my skin. H is for Height: 5' 4" or 1.6 meters I is for Instruments you play: Saxophone, String Bass, Guitar, Piano (badly), Keyboard Percussion, Handbells, Auxillary Percussion, and some other stuff. I was super into music until I went to college. College made me hate it but I've mellowed out again now that I'm away from it. Bummer, huh? J is for Job title: Production Trainer but I won't tell you where because I signed a no internet agreement and I'd prefer to keep my job :) K is for Kids: Nope. Maybe one someday but that's my limit. L is for Living Place: Redacted for safety. It's a suburb of redacted which makes it a subsuburb of redacted. M is for Mom's Name: redacted  N is for Nicknames: Not really any. AC (my initials). Redacted the Killer on occasion. O is for Overnight Hospital Visits: Once with I had my tonsils removed in Junior High and I think when I was a baby and had the croupe but I obviously don't remember that. P is for Pet Peeves: Good Lord, do NOT get me started! I hate when you ask if someone wants something and they say "please" instead of "yes, please." I hate jaywalkers especially when there is a crosswalk not 10 yards away! I absolutely can't stand when I'm around skinny girls who talk about how fat they are. First of all, love the body you're in and second of all, that's not something you talk about around women twice your size. Since I work in a restaurant I have a host of annoying things that people do while eating, but I won't bug you about that. I don't want to sound like a negative person; it's just a result of working in customer service. People are kind of a bummer. Q is for Quote from a Movie: Bah. Again, you expect me to choose just one? All of "The Princess Bride." All of "Ferris Bueller's Day Off." All of "To Wong Fu, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar." And for the one liner, "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming, just keep swimming, swimming, swimming." Finding Nemo. R is for Righty or Lefty: Righty, but I can knit both left and right handed! S is for Siblings: 1 brother 5 years my junior. He has a name, but more often than not I just call him "Little Brother" and in return he calls me "Big Sister." T is for Time you wake up: Varies, but usually I'm out of bed by 8:30 AM. U is for Underwear: Yes, I wear them. No I won't describe them :) V is for Veggie you Don't Like: I like spicy food but I don't like the flavor of jalepenos. It's fruits that are on my bad side. Rassberries, blueberries, cherries, peaches, starfruit, lemon, lime, grapefuit, canned pineapple (but fresh is good) and there's also a long list of fruits I've never tried. W is for What makes you Late: Getting clothes on at the last possible second, but I'm very good at it and it's rare for me to be late to anything important like work or a flight or something. X is for X-rays you've gotten: Dental and in 4th grade I broke a meta tarsal and needed a cast for a month. Y is for Yummy Food you Make: Anything involving an oven. I'm lazy so I like to fix it and let the oven do the work! Cookies, cakes, lasagna and meatloaf. I also like no cook snacks like rice crispie treats and peanut butter balls. And anything involving chorizo. Z is for Zoo Animal of Choice: Giraffe. They're graceful and ridiculous at the same time.

Day 67 and the Poppy Chain

Spring is being fickle here in Ohio. It will look like it's ready to be warm and inviting one day and then snowstorm the very next. This scarf is a hope and a prayer that spring will finally make up its mind and decide to happen!

I used one ball of patons "grace," a size F crochet hook, and my favorite 8 petaled flower motif.

Poppy Chain
Chain 4. Join with slip stitch into a ring. Chain 3 (counts as first double crochet), dbl crochet 15 more times into the center of the ring and slip stitch into the first (chained) double crochet stitch.
Chain 1 and single crochet into the same stitch. *Chain 4 and single crochet into the second double crochet* repeat all the way around the circle for a total of 7 chain loops. Chain 4 and slip stitch into the first single crochet for the 8th chain loop.
Chain 1. *1 sc, 1 hdbl, 2 dbl, 1 hdbl, 1 sc* in each of the 8 chain loops. If you choose to join the motifs as you go, for the final 2 petals, line up the 4 double crochet stitches (2 in each petal) in the previous motif and when performing the double crochets in the current motif, place your hook through the previous double crochet stitches and work normally.
Cut the thread and pull through the last stitch. If you choose not to join as you go, leave a longer tail than you would normally so that you can use it to sew the motif to the previous motif. Hide any loose ends with a tapestry or yarn needle.

Because one ball of grace doesn't have enough for a very long scarf, I felt this needed something to secure it while wearing. You could use a button or a toggle or even a shawl pin. I chose to make a coordinating crochet button by making a magic circle, single crocheting 6 times into it, and single crocheting into each stitch for the second round. Then I thread my yarn through those six stitches and pulled them tight to form the tiniest little button ball. I sewed it to the very center of the final motif and it was just the right size to fit through any of the petal lace chain loops so the scarf could be warn in a number of ways.

Day 66 and Dreads

You have to be a bold and daring person for this crazy number! It looks like the longest dreadfalls you've ever seen!

This is a really quick craft/crochet scarf. It only uses chains so even if you can't crochet, you can make a scarf like this by learning the foundation chain. If you're very patient you can even finger chain and end up with the same result.

You'll need a thick and thin yarn and it's actually pretty important to find a machine made yarn. I love handspun as much as the next yarnhead, but this scarf requires a yarn that has very regular intervals of thin and thick areas.

What you want to do is cut many lengths of the yarn while lining up the slubs. Lay all the pieces side by side and use a contrasting or coordinating smooth yarn to make a chain. For every single chain that you make you must catch one strand of yarn in the back bump of the stitch. Do this until you've caught all the strands one at a time. Move on to the next section of thin segments and make another chain. Once you've done this for all the thin spots, you can go back and make more chains in the same segments until you're happy with the look. I did 3 chains in each segment and left my ends to hang as a design choice. If you want you can always weave your ends back into the chain for a marginally tidier scarf.

Day 65 and the Topsy Tail

Does anyone remember this thing? It was a tool that was mostly known in the late eighties and early nineties which was used for styling ponytails. You would make a basic ponytail, then thread your topsy tail through the tail in whatever direction pleased you. When you threaded your ponytail through the loop and pulled the tool out, you had a twisted hairdo that looked a bit like Belle from Disney's version of Beauty and the Beast.

That's where this idea came from. Twisting a piece of fleece through itself made tufts of thick areas and pinched areas that appeared smaller.

Cut a piece of fleece as long as you want and about 12 inches wide. Every 9 inches, cut a 1.5 inch slit vertically though the center of the fabric's width. When you've cut all your holes, begin doing the topsy tail maneuver. Keep the top secure so your moves stay consistent. Thread the entire scarf from front to back through the slit. Pull until it's as far through as it will go. Do this with each slit all the way down the scarf. Fluff the wider parts and enjoy!

Day 64 and the Classic Granny

Crocheters everywhere know this one! Your classic one color granny squares all in a row make a traditional and lovely scarf!

This was made with a size J hook, one ball of red heart soft, and 3 rounds of the basic granny square. 16 squares whip stitched together made for a pleasing scarf. This is rather slender but perfect for the still nippy spring weather we're getting here in Ohio.

I'll take a fresh picture tomorrow. This one is really terrible! :'O... Edit: Bah, this is better, but it still doesn't show off the nice little clusters of double crochet! I'll have to try again some time.

Day 63 and FourStrands

It's not really four separate strands. It's actually a reversible cable. Just like the last reversible cable, it's done in ribbing. To give the appearance of a four strand braid all you have to do is use the basic recipe.

You could work in any even numbered amount times four. I did a six stitch grouping so the total number of stitches on my needle was twenty four. Each group represents one strand of the braid.

1)First cable crossing: front cable, front cable.
2)Work even until you reach the ...
3)Second crossing: work one group even, back cable, work one group even.
4)Work even until it's time to repeat from (1)

I love cabling. It's so much simpler than most people would believe.

Day 62 and the Built In Fringe

This was so easy and so fast, and looks more complicated than it really is!

Plus, I hate putting fringe in at the end of a project. So much cutting and folding and it just doesn't appeal to me. This was an easy way to get it done without any of that fuss.

1 ball Dazzleaire by caron
Size 11 Needles
Tapestry needle

CO 36.
Knit even in garter stitch until you run out of yarn.
Final row: Knit 6, graft the remaining stitches to the first row matching stitch for stitch.
Finishing: Sew in the loos ends. The 6 stitches that were knit in the final row are loose. Pull the stitches out one row at a time. Only the column of 6 stitches will pull out and the rest will remain secure.

Pretty neat how that works, huh?

Day 61 and Midnight

Wide short crochet lace. It's absolutely lovely. There are hundreds and hundreds of all over lace patterns. Making a versatile piece of clothing is as easy as choosing one and making a large panel.

If it's wider and shorter than usual, it can be worn as a scarf, as a stole, as a shawl, and even as a hood.

This one was done with Lion Brand Homespun and a size K hook. The pattern is a very short pineapple without the double crochet shells between each repeat. Even regular sized pineapples would be terrific as an all over pattern. It's as easy as choosing a pattern and making a very large swatch because why waste a perfectly good swatch? Amiright?

Good News, Everyone!

I'm not perfect, but I'm much less sick than I was and I had a day off from work today. I had enough time to retake a bunch of pictures from this past month because really, a lot of them were pretty darn shameful.

So back up and take a gander if you're so inclined. I'm much happier with the way they look now. :)

Day 60 and Vogue 1.0

I'm sure over the course of the year, I'll do many patterns that aren't my own and here is if I'm not mistaken the first!

I can't seem to find it on ravelry, but this is the very last pattern in the Winter 1999 issue. It's different from the other keyhole scarves so far because instead of a hole, there are two layers of fabric forming a tube through the scarf fits. A garter stitch and ribbed pattern, it's a very quick knit and a very warm one as well.