FREE PATTERN: Little Lacey Scarf

While visiting my sister Carla at holiday time she showed me a lovely bamboo yarn that she received as a Christmas gift. She asked for a design that would show off the yarn yet use one skein. I started thinking about some of the lace patterns that I have recorded in my knitting journals.

How about a narrow scarf, not only for warmth, but for show? Something you could wind around your neck while wearing a turtleneck in cool weather or a deep V neck on warm summer nights. Hmmmm . . . this lace scarf is the result.

Little Lacey Scarf

For a narrow scarf using sock weight yarn and US #6 needles: 

Cast on 25 stitches using cable cast on.
Set up row: Knit one row – this is a backside row.

Row 1 (right side): K2, *p1, p2tog, yarn over, k1, yarn over, p2tog, p1,  repeat from * 2 more times, end k2 -- 25 stitches.


Row 2: k2, purl across row, end k2.

Row 3: Knit.

Row 4: Same as Row 2.

Repeat these 4 rows to desired length.

About the yarn overs: Each yarn over (YO) is worked differently because of the p2tog. You will see that you bring the yarn to the front or back depending on which YO you are working. It might seem like you are doing a double YO. This can be puzzling so count stitches after finishing each right side row.

About the scarf shown: Lori Limberger knit the Little Lacey Scarf shown in the photo. She used Trekking Maxima , Color 912, which is available on our website. The scarf is 4" wide by 72" long. Lori's goal was a soft scarf that would go around the neck twice. She used most, but not all, of the 400 plus yards on this sock weight skein of yarn. Lori has been knitting with the Tuesday Night group at Graywood Studio this winter. Great job, Lori!

Try another weight of yarn: Since this is a scarf and a scarf is like a swatch, only longer, you can play with the size of yarn and needles that you use. Try using US#10 or 10 1/2 needles with a worsted weight yarn for a heavier and probably shorter scarf. In general, when knitting openwork lace, use needles that are 3-5 sizes larger than than what is recommended for the gauge of the yarn you are using. The larger needles will give a softer, looser, more open lace.

Using self striping yarn: When using self striping or handpainted yarns, go for those with a subtle look. The fair isle striping or bold painted yarns will overpower the subtleness of this little lace pattern.

Blocking lace: I always block lace when it is finished. For this scarf I got eager to see the results so I blocked it when I had about 12 inches knit. Here's how: Slip the stitches onto a holding strand and pin most of the completed knitting to an ironing surface. Insert pins about every inch all around the perimeter of the scarf. Next wet a dinner napkin size piece of muslin, place it on top of the pinned knitting and lightly (very lightly!) steam the knitting. Walk away and let the work dry at this point. When dry, release the pins and be delighted with the lacey look of your work. Slip the stitches back on the needles and keep on knitting. You will have the blocked lace to admire and your work will go faster.

288 Thangles and Counting!

I'm carrying around a whole bunch of uncompleted Thangles and quilt blocks. One of the designs for our next book uses 24 Thangle units in each block. There are 12 blocks, so I'm sewing 288 Thangles for this table runner. Sounds like a lot of work and, in a way, it is.

But the sewing is really the easy part. What has been tough (and this is the part that I love) has been choosing fabrics for their color and pattern. That's where the interplay of line and design start to jell.

In our studio, Danielle and I work hard at getting the colors and fabrics just so. We know that there isn't necessarily a right and a wrong. What we look for is that satisfying, eye-popping use of color and fabric that just makes us want to leap to our sewing machines and get the project underway.

What color am I using? Believe it or not, I'm sewing with twelve different cheddars. That's the orangey-old color. I call it the color of Dial soap. The background is the same in every Thangle, a pale tan and I'm using one of my favorite sizes of Thangles, the 1.25 inch. The final block will be 8 inches unfinished.

Watch for this design in our new book. Meanwhile, 244 Thangles, here I come!

Tuesday Knitters Will Try Lace Knitting

We're going to give lace knitting a try at our Tuesday Night Knitter's group. I've worked up a handout using a chart to knit the cat's paw pattern. Beginning knitters will find charts to be a fairly easy way of figuring out what stitch goes where. Lace really isn't hard once you get the idea of it. For every hole that you add (usually a yarn over) you have to take away a stitch (usually done by a decrease).

Our Sensibility Shawl is knit on US#10 needles using worsted weight yarn and a lace pattern. This is a good pattern for knitters who have some experience and want to try knitting lace.

Blog Update

Just thought it was time to let readers of this blog know about the ups and downs of writing for the web. When you page back through blog posts you will find very sporadic entries for the last month. When that happens you know that the blogger is off doing something else! 

In my case I've been up to several things. Here at the Studio in Pigeon we're dreaming up a new quilting book. That work is progressing to the point that several design walls now carry blocks in various stages of sewing. There are three ring binders that are filling with proposed pages for a book. Titles are being tried out; fonts and typefaces chosen; in short, we are working on our next book and its projects.

I have also been working at introducing Photoshop CS4 into my computing life. I've been using Adobe's excellent Elements program to do the web work for our new website, but always knew that I needed to move to Photoshop. That will be a learning process and the first learning process has been about the intricacies of installing this momentous program on my somewhat older laptop. I emptied the hard drive several weeks ago. Got rid of unused programs. Moved photos to an outboard drive. Defragged and debugged and de-dusted the little machine. Still, there were problems with the upgrade and install. Most of that should be behind me. Now I begin the learning curve.

Here in Michigan we have end of February deadlines with state sales tax forms. That work always leads to cleaning out the files and shaping up the paperwork from the previous year. For me, paperwork seems to take twice as long as I predict. If I set aside one day for work, it will take me two. Ah, but that can be my procrastination, I've discovered. Buckle down and do it, I've told myself. This year, paperwork is done and the satisfaction of tying up the loose ends is immense.

All of these tasks keep me busy and away from the blogging. Now though, I'm back and pledging to keep the blog lively with reports from knitters nights and quilting book publishing. Stayed tuned!

Block for New Book

Here's one of the blocks that we might use for our Cheddar project in our next quilting book! I use my cellphone's camera to photograph and evaluate the color and layout of blocks as we develop designs. The fabrics down the diagonal center are the Daiwabo wovens that we use in our kits. Look here for more about these great Japanese fabrics.

Cool Knits from the Tuesday Night Knitters

Oh so cool! Here are some of the projects that Tuesday Night Knitters have made for their family and friends.

Colleen Forman's First Scarf is modeled here by her daughter. So fashionista, Colleen! Congratulations on a wonderfully warm Christmas gift for your daughter. I know that Colleen has finished a second scarf and may be well on the way into another scarf by now. I believe that this scarf is knit of Brown Sheep Lanaloft Handpaint in the color "Autumn Run." Very nice!

Then we have Kathy Kent's perky peeky hat which she gifted to her little friend Willow. Willow obviously is pleased with her hat. Congratulations, Kathy, on a knitting job well done! Looks like Kathy used the same yarn as Colleen did -- the Handpaint from Brown Sheep. I think that this color is "Salt Water Taffy."

Here's a link to that yarn on our website:http://www.graywooddesigns.com/product.php?id=13

Notice from Willow's hat that this yarn knits up with a chunky look. It is listed as a worsted weight yarn but can be knit at a looser gauge for the "big yarn" look.

Another Little Boy's Hat

I'm in the second week of a two week vacation and I'm knitting on several projects. Socks: almost finished with first sock of a pair that were started around Christmas time. Scarf: working on a hexagon project that hasn't "settled down" yet. I'm not liking the way that the hexagons join, so it is still an experiment. Child's Hat: Ah, this one is finished and you can see the photo with this post. Afghan squares: This one will be a charmer! I'm playing with Lamb's Pride worsted -- all those luscious colors -- and the Log Cabin Afghan pattern by Carol Anderson. This project will be in the Studio Store by mid-February so watch for it soon!

About the Little Boy's Hat in the photo: I used a DK weight yarn with US #4 circular needle. The pattern is an interrupted rib (k3,p1) that's set off by rounds of garter stitch ridges. Don't you love the funky earflaps! I added them so that the hat didn't have to pull down over the little boy's eyes. The earflaps are bordered with 3 garter stitches on each side and end I-cord knots that should be shoulder danglers. The tot who wears this hat can easily remove it by grabbing a knot and flinging the hat off. Good for car seat kids, don't you think?

By the way, the circular needle that I used (a Clover 16" bamboo) survived being chewed on by Mr. Griffin Henry Clark, my number two grandson. Over Christmas holidays, Finny walked into the kitchen with this needle in his mouth. "Oh no, Finny! Not my knitting needles! Don't bite," I exclaimed as I rescued the wet needle from the toddler mouth. The needle survived unscathed and Finny got a hug for his curiosity and understanding. That bamboo is really quite hard!

The recipient of this hat will be Action Jackson who turned one in late January. Action Jackson is my granddaughter Hannah's cousin. The yarn in this blue hat is the same as in Hannah's Sunshine Sweater and Hat set, only a different color. So the cousins will have hats from the same yarn, just of a different design. Such fun! Knitting for the little ones!

Tuesday Night Knitters, I will miss being with you this week. Danielle will send you an email so be watching for her knitterly words of wisdom. My emails to you will resume next week and sometime during this week I will update the blog with photos of the projects that you have been knitting. Thank you all again for agreeing to have your photos placed on the GW Blog! See you soon.

Keep knitting,

Wanda