Rotini Scarf Update



(How we spent New Year's day. We had so much fun it may need to become a tradition.)

The most visited post on this blog is my "A Scarf by Many Names" post from last November.  Apparently rotini scarves or potato chip scarves or ruffle scarves or whatever you want to call them are quite popular.  There is even a forum on craftster concerning my post for people that don't understand what I mean by the "knit 8, turn and knit back" directions.  Isn't it funny how the simplest things can somehow be so hard to understand?  I truly feel for these knitters since I read patterns all the time and think "what the HELL are they talking about?", but once I am shown whatever it is I can't believe I couldn't figure it out.  I think I will try to film a little video this weekend on short rows, it is the only way I can take the befuddled masses, sit them down, and show them what I mean.  It will be easy to film this video since my scarf is still a little over halfway done, unlike my mom who has knit, I think at last count, five?  Maybe six?  Two of them were Christmas presents for the shrimp, modeled above.  Here are some more pics for your viewing pleasure, I still love how the noro yarn makes them so colorful! 

You'll notice that on these she sewed the tips together at each end and added a big, lovely flower button.  I'm pretty sure I will do something similar on mine, when I get around to actually finishing it.  The one below she knitted for herself... it is from a slightly thicker noro yarn and she reduced the number of stitches in a row to compensate.  It is just as ruffle-y, but has a little extra squish to it, which is nice.  Wouldn't these make a wonderful Valentine's day present for someone you know?

Spud and Chloe Scrunch Scarf

Atlanta saw more snow last week than it had in well over a decade, 1993 is the last time anyone remembers the city being shut down by snow for a week.  This posed the perfect opportunity to snuggle into the new scarf my mom knit me for Christmas and I can report that it is a very warm, squishy scarf.  She knit The Scrunch Scarf (free pattern from Spud and Chloe) with yarn she picked up at Purl Soho when we were in New York a few weeks ago.  She says it is a super fast knit, which must be true since she has already whipped up another one for herself.

2011 Crafty Resolution List

I have been miserably sick with strep, that my dear daughter shared with me, for the last few days and pretty much all I could muster the strength to do was catch up on blogs.  This time of year everyone is busy posting their New Year's resolutions and as I laid there sick, feverish and delusional I had time to think about the type of resolution I wanted to make this year.  Not something boring like exercising or eating right (those especially don't sound appealing when the room is spinning and your throat is on fire), but something fun instead.  Something I want to do instead of something I feel like I need to fix.  Maybe this misses the point of resolutions, but it sure was a nice diversion to think about things I would like to do when I felt better.  I am resolving to take the time to accomplish some of the online tutorials/patterns/recipes that I have had starred and on my list for quite some time (some of them since I started reading blogs in 2008).  I guess it is sort of like resolving to do more of the things I like to do, or resolving to get off the computer and make stuff, or resolving to narrow my focus since I chose from hundreds of starred items in google reader to come up with the following list of fifteen things I would like to sew, knit or cook in the coming year.  These ones stood out in particular because they are all things that I have thought about doing several times, have most likely already subjected my husband to descriptions of their cleverness, and quite likely have already bought the supplies for, but just haven't quite made the time in the past to complete them.  So, this resolution will also clear out some mental clutter upon completion.

2011  Crafty Resolution List

Drafty Door Thingy from Not Martha

Doorstop from Wipster (via the long thread)

Buttercup Bag from Made by Rae (I even bought fabric to make this well over a year ago)

Gathered Clutch by Skip To My Lou

Zippered Pouches by Flossie Teacakes (via How About Orange) or These by Sew 4 Home

Reusable Snack Bags by I Have to Say

Granola - Soule Mama's adaptation

Butter via Angry Chicken comments on the subject - Have been thinking about this since she first posted it, we love butter!

Elf Hats - ok, this one is from a book, More Last Minute Knitted Gifts, which I own, but after seeing SouleMama knit a bunch of these for Christmas presents I can't stop thinking about them.

Gap-tastic Cowl - This one is on Ravelry.  I love it when something so incredibly simple becomes rampantly popular as soon as someone takes the time to write a free pattern.  It is taking all my willpower to not start one of these immediately, and it doesn't help that Lion Brand yarn is buy one get one free at Michael's today, or that it is supposed to snow starting tonight.  At least now I have the excuse that it is part of my New Year's resolution!

French Press Felted Slippers - top left pattern.  I own this pattern, I have watched almost every knitter in the blogosphere knit up a pair, it is time to get over my fear of all those seams and trust in the magic of felting!

5 Minute Skirt by Angry Chicken

Felted Knitting Basket from Martha Stewart

Bunny Nuggets by Rebecca Danger

Figure 8 Scarf by Anna Maria Horner - already have the fabric, should be a quickie!


Do you have any long-thought-about craftiness that you want to accomplish this year? 

Handmade Gift the Fourth - Aiden Hat

If you have been reading my blog for a while you may remember that my husband got a nice, manly wool scarf for Christmas last year.  This year he finally got the hat to match.  A very basic ribbed hat from the Rowan Coulorscape Folk book (ravelry link).  The hat pattern is nothing exciting, but the yarn has nice changes of color to make it interesting and enough weight to make this hat go very quickly, definitely knittable in a day if one had a chunk of time to devote to it.

Pattern:  Aiden Hat from Rowan Colourscape Folk
Yarn: Rowan Colourscape Chunky in Storm
Needles: Size US 10 1/2  straights (could easily be knit in the round too)

Handmade Gift the Third - Ponytail Hat

About two weeks before Christmas, while taking a knitting break and browsing Ravelry, I came across the cutest hat.  One should absolutely not, under any circumstances, log on to Ravelry two weeks before Christmas, especially if one is a knitter working on a long term project with a deadline; who is easily distracted by super cute quick projects using big yarn that can be finished in a day or two.  I think we all know that within a few short days I had appropriate yarn and needles in hand, with a plan to add just one more hand knit project to my gift list.  The teenager next door has a love of knit hats and very long hair, so once I stumbled across the Hannah ponytail hat I couldn't get the idea of her having it out of my head.  Luckily the pattern was very fast and it turned out just as I imagined (it is quite hard to take a picture of the back of your own head, hopefully you can tell that the clever hat buttons under your ponytail so that you don't mess it up putting the hat on and taking it off). 

It is always a bit harrowing to present a hand made gift to someone you have never knit for before, but I think she liked it.

Pattern:  Hannah Hat on Ravelry
Yarn: Misti Alpaca Chunky in Seafoam Green
Needles:  Size US 10 straight for button flap and then Double pointed to knit the rest in the round

Handmade Gift the Second - Olivia

Sammie the Sock Monster's friend, Olivia, finally got stuffed and pieced together on Christmas Eve Eve. This pattern is such a quick and easy knit, far faster than Sammie and I have to say she is all kinds of cute. Both monsters were a big hit Christmas morning and both girls kept asking me, "You knit these mom? Really? All by yourself?".

I Couldn't resist taking Olivia out for a photoshoot in the snow, we have never had snow accumulation on Christmas in my lifetime, and I attribute it all to the 8 year old that lives next door who put snow on her Christmas list for Santa. It was such a treat, just the right amount and so pretty.

Did you get your holiday knitting projects completed?
Pattern: Olivia the Audacious Monster by Rebecca Danger
Yarn: Cascade 220 in Magenta
Needles: Size US 5 (I used double pointed instead of the magic loop suggested by the pattern)

Current State of Christmas Knitting

One project complete.
One project almost complete, just needs stuffing and sewing together of various body parts.  Oh, and a tiny tutu.
One project not yet started (eek!).
One project started Friday and almost complete, must run to yarn store for buttons and double pointed size ten needles for finishing today.
One heart attack yesterday morning after discovering this:

Sunday Status Report

I am all the sudden very pleased with my holiday knitting progress, amazing how much monster you can knit when your butt rarely leaves the couch the whole day!  Just keep knitting, just keep knitting...

    Olivia in progress.

Sammie for my Sammy

Christmas knitting is in full force around here, and as of this morning my first present is complete!  Isn't he handsome?  This fabulous Sammie the Sock Monster (pattern by the super creative Rebecca Danger) is quite a knitting accomplishment (he even has little socks!!!), but the fact that I have to whip up another whole monster in just a few weeks makes me hyperventilate slightly.  Very similar to the position I was in last year I do believe.  Even though I start on my Christmas knitting at the end of summer, I still find myself procrastinating come Thanksgiving.  The rest of this weekend will be devoted to knitting, so hopefully I can make some good progress on Olivia.  Of course I keep looking at Sammie and thinking he needs a monster quilt... doesn't he look cold?  No, must focus on next monster!

Chattahoochee Evening Stars Quilt Show 2010

Last weekend was my guild's quilt show. I think I am now far enough away from all the work and stress that goes in to such an event to show some pictures!  I only had one quilt in the show, which means that is all I have completed in the last two years. That definitely shows how going back to work full time effects quilt output (not to mention planning a wedding/getting married, having a second child start school, and becoming obsessed with knitting).  Excuses, excuses, I know there are plenty of people out there doing all that and more and producing quilts like crazy, I'm just in denial that I am really slow. Mom and Melissa had several quilts in the show, and they both won ribbons!  Here is my Butterfly Garden quilt on display:

Mom's ribbon winning quilt:

Check out all that embroidery!

Two of Melissa's 9 patch quilts... I love 9 patches:

I better get to work now so I have something to enter in the 2012 show!

Jam!

There have been so many summers that I thought about making jam, but it took being completely overrun with blueberries this summer to make me finally do it.  After picking a ridiculous amount of berries at my mom's house, one of the hubbie's friends brought over a huge grocery bag full of berries he had picked at his grandparents' house.  Since my children can consume their weight in any kind of berry it took this volume to finally push me into canning.  Why did I think making jam was hard?  It is SO easy, and not even that much of a time committment.  I think I was put off by all the canning stuff that you can buy and that everyone who does canning seems to have.  The only things I bought were some pectin (I tried liquid) and some jars.  I already had a big pot to boil the jars in, and plenty of other pots to do everything else in, and I'm really not sure why you need a rack to put in the pot you boil the jars in?  I didn't use one and just used tongs to lift the jars out of the boiling water.  I ended up using the recipe on the pectin box for my first attempt (what better place to find an idiot-proof recipe?) but would really like to try a spiced one like this one.  I'm hoping to try canning tomato sauce next, I have a ton of tomatoes that are all going to ripen at the same time, if the ants don't nibble them first.

Summer Harvest 1

Blueberry season is winding down and I have spent several sweaty hours removing fruit from my mom's trees.  With temperatures sneaking over a hundred this is no task for the faint of heart.  The birds take great offense to my efforts, sitting in the nearby pine trees screeching at me most of the time, but the heat and the harrassment is well worth the freezer full of berries and the results of my first time making blueberry jam.  I've yet to taste my first batch, and want to try spiced blueberry jam next, but will report back on my efforts soon.

(The umbrella was genius, its amazing how refreshing a little shade can be)

A Scarf By Many Names

I definitely had a "look something shiny" moment in the yarn store last week with my mom, the culprit is a scarf that can't even decide what it is called.  The free pattern I got from the yarn shop says "rotini scarf"  or "potato chip" scarf, but a search in ravelry reveals scarves of those names that are not the same pattern as this one (the scarves by those names are cast on at the edge and knit sideways, or else they are crochet).  A search for ruffle scarves reveals wayyyyy too many scarf patterns to look through, but I came closest to a similar pattern when I found one called a "corkscrew" scarf.  The pattern is so ridiculously simple and was free with yarn, so I will put it at the end of this post. 

Back to the point, this scarf is completely addictive, and when knit with Noro yarn is downright entrancing.  The pattern is short, easily memorized and watching the scarf swirl as you knit is cackle inducing (just ask my husband).  I tried to not cast on for it until I finished at least one of Melissa's socks, however resistance was futile.  I should just admit that there's no going back until it is complete, at the rate I am going I'll get it done in a week or two and then can get back to the socks.

Corkscrew/Rotini/Potato Chip Scarf Pattern

(edits added for clarification, based on some questions)

Size 8 or 9 needles
Any medium weight yarn will do, I highly suggest a non-scratchy noro for color fun.

Cast on 20 stitches
Knit 8 - turn (turn your work as if you were at the end of a row, but you aren't)
Knit 8 back (knit back along the first 8 stitches you knit in previous row)
Knit 6 - turn (turn your work as if you were at the end of a row, but you aren't)
Knit 6 back (knit back along the 6 stitches you knit in previous row)
Knit 4 - turn (turn your work as if you were at the end of a row, but you aren't)

Knit 4 back (knit back along the 4 stitches you knit in previous row)

Knit 20 (ignore your short rows and just knit straight across the whole 20 stitches)

start over with the knit 8 row - that's it, just keep going to desired length and bind off!
(it takes a good 6 inches into the scarf before it starts to "corkscrew")


Video directions now posted here!

Knitting Time/Space Continuum Warp

I had a very odd experience the other day... after I posted about Melissa's birthday socks I was reading the fall KnitSimple magazine that I grabbed at a new way-too-close-to-me yarn shop and right there in the magazine were the socks I had just posted about. 

My Sock:

Magazine Sock:

(this picture also proves that good studio lighting gives a much better representation of yarn colors)

Now, usually I see something in a magazine, drool over it for a very long time, then finally get around to knitting it.  This was like some sort of knitting time warp!  I actually somehow started knitting a project in a magazine feature before ever seeing it.  I'm talking same Unisomo yarn and colorway and same pattern here people!  Freaky.  I have to admit it made me feel quite clever, like I am in tune with the knitting pulse of the universe.  Maybe I am a yarn psychic!  Nah, just a yarn psycho.

Happy Birthday Melissa!

America shares her birthday with my good friend, Melissa, who has been subtley suggesting that she may like some hand knit socks for her birthday.  If subtle means comments on my blog, texts, and random quotes from Dr. Seuss' Fox In Socks on my facebook page.  It's hard to deny someone that really appreciates a handmade gift, or someone so relentless about one, so I have been working away on these for the last few weeks.  They aren't finished, it's challenging to find a sense of urgency for something that can't be worn until winter, but I will keep knitting away and by the time it is cool enough for her to stand having them on her feet they will be done. 

As usual, my mom had to show me up and finish a coordinating project to go with the socks before I got the actual socks done, so Melissa gets these super cute fingerless gloves to match her socks.  Happy Birthday Melissa!