Santa Fe Sunset

This was a quick, easy knit; the scarf is soft and drapy; and the colors reminded me of a Southwest sunset.

Santa Fe Sunset Scarf

pattern: a simple drop stitch/garter stitch pattern inspired by diamondgirl on Ravelry
yarn: Noro Silk Garden
colors: 224
amount: 4 skeins, minus the lime parts, with about 3/4 skein leftover
needles: US 9 (5 mm)
finished measurements: about 8"x10'

This simple pattern consists of a row of drop stitches (K1, YO 2x, end in K1) alternating with 3 rows of garter stitch. I made it long so I could wrap it around my neck a couple of times and still have enough to drape down in front of my coat. It's a perfect use for Silk Garden; the colors unfold beautifully. Because I thought the lime was jarring for the effect I wanted (I just wanted the warm colors), I took out those parts, so I actually used less than 3 skeins. A quick, easy, fun knit, great for last-minute gifts!

Teasers

Here are some WIP's. Finished photos and details as they're done!

Richard's scarf

I can finally start to reveal some of my holiday knitting! Here's one for starters.

Richard's Scarf

A simple mistake rib scarf with lovely soft squishy yarn that made up into a very cozy scarf.

pattern: Mistake Rib, inspiration from this site

yarn: Filtes King Extra Stampato and Mission Falls 1824 Wool

colors: black with grey flecks and black

amount: almost 3 skeins of each (roughly 500 yds. total)

finished measurements: didn't measure -- maybe 8"x60"

needles: US 11 (8 mm)

This is a very easy knit -- just k2, p2 to the last 3 st., then k2, p1. Every row is the same so it's reversible. I held two strands together, one of each of the yarns. Very quick and easy, and it makes a great cozy scarf... I ended up loving it so much that I want to make a mistake rib scarf for myself! Lots of other projects to finish first, though.


More finished gifts soon!

Mitt-licious

pattern: Midnightsky Fibers' fingerless mitts (with a few of my own modifications), here

yarn: Brown Sheep Handpaint Originals

colors: HP 90, Stormy Skies

amount: used one skein plus about a yard from a second one, about 90 yds.

finished measurements: small

needles: dpn's, US 1 (2.25 mm)

Although I had a heck of a time getting these made, I finally got them done. My first completed project on dpn's, too!

Some construction details:

I used the pattern as written with a few small changes. The first mitt I made (now frogged), I followed the pattern, but was unhappy with how the yarn worked with the pattern stitch. Before I frogged the first mitt I made the second but instead of using the pattern stitch, I simply used stockinette stitch. I think it worked better with the yarn and the color play shows up a bit better. The only other change I made was that after I completed the thumb decrease and got rid of the final one stitch of the decrease, I only knit 3 more rows, instead of 4 (the final knit row after the 3 pattern rows in the instructions).

I like the thumb in this pattern more than in some fingerless mitts I've seen. It isn't knit out separately but rather a hole is made by casting on 9 extra stitches, and then those 9 stitches are decreased over a number of rows. If you look closely, you can see where the decreases are below the thumb holes in the photo below.


This yarn is a bit scratchy so I suspect the mitts won't get used while sitting in a chilly office typing as much as they will for quick trips to the store but we'll see. I love the colors but didn't like working with such small needles.

I'm going to play with modifying this pattern even more, knitting from the wrist to the fingers instead of the other way around in as in the instructions; using a heavier yarn and bigger needles; and doing, perhaps obviously, increases and a bind off on the thumb holes instead of cast on and decreases. My first venture into pattern design. Stay tuned!

In other knitting news, I've had a bad case of startitis all fall and have about 12 projects going now, most of which I can't post about now because they're gifts for friends and family, but I have a few for myself I'll be adding, and gifts will be added after the holidays!