A Plethora of Photos

I have quite the collection of finished objects to show off. It is better to take photographs outside but it can’t be really bright but not too overcast either. And this week it has gone from really overcast to major sun in the blink of an eye.

I have seven finished projects, of varying sizes, to show you. Which is a great number of finished items but I still have many WIPs (works in progress) not helped by casting on two easy projects recently. One of these is a project I had to cast on so that I had something at book club and the other one was so that left over yarn didn’t sit in my stash. I have also been working on the shawl/wrap that has been on my needles for ever.

I am going to show these in finished order, oldest to newest.

Firstly is the this-close-to-finished shawl, started in August 2013. I’m not sure why it took so long, there was a delay in finding beads and adding beads to a project takes time but it’s finally done and I love it. It is so light. The yarn is TOFUtsies which is a sock yarn that I was given. I had used this yarn for socks but it did not wear well, a search on Ravelry came up with this pattern. I have another ball of this yarn that I was given and that will become something lacey too.



Next off the needles was a hat I started so I had something to work on at book club. I had a ball of yarn that I really didn’t know what to do with so it became a baby hat. Unfortunately it didn’t use the whole ball but I wasn’t going to undo the whole project and knit the next size. The pattern is Barley by Tin Can Knits, a free pattern in many sizes and the yarn is Lanaloft by Brown Sheep. Not sure what I am going to do with this as it is baby size but needs to be hand washed.



I had a busy day at the end of June and finished three projects.
A shawl made from some special handspun given to me when I left Calgary; a purse which was meant to be for the May Grey Knit Along, using yarn left over from these socks; and a knitted scarf for Operation Gratitude using yarn I had won also shown in the post with the socks.



Then it took me until the end of July to finish another project. Another hat for Operation Gratitude and a day later a pair of socks which were for the July challenge – self-striping. The yarn had been in my stash for a little while and I had tried using it with a different pattern in a previous self-striping challenge.



The skirt is completely finished but it will be a while before photos are taken; I have started to sew together the toy but I need to buy more stuffing; I will make a hat for Operation Gratitude and, depending on the pattern, a tea cosy; the easy projects shouldn’t take too long, so I hope to have a few more finished items to show this month.

They're Coming To Take Me Away

I made another bag but that in itself is not the reason to cart me off to the funny farm. I made the bag to replace another bag that was not really suitable to its purpose.

I have a bag in which I keep my knitting notions plus a small bag which holds cable needles, sewing needles etc. This bag is the right size but the design is not practical. It is a roll that husband got from an airline and it is not practical because things fall out of the ends.

So having fabric left over and a 50% coupon from Jo-Ann for zipper purchasing and a different pattern, I made a bag. The size of the bag was determined by the amount of fabric I had but I checked the bag would be the right size before starting. The outer fabric was left over from the bag shown bottom left in this post. I purchased a zipper the same colour but used lining fabric left over from a different project as there wasn't enough of the original lining except to make a tab on the end of the zipper. Instead of interfacing, I used fusible fleece on this bag but for a larger bag I think the fusible fleece would need to be applied to both the main fabric and the lining.

I am mostly pleased with this bag apart from not doing a very good job of matching seams for the boxed corners. I love the zipper being extended but next time I would sew it into the bag a little further, although I was replacing a bag because things fell out, I don’t think the little gap will be a problem. The size and design would make a great cosmetics bag.

So why do normal people, especially my husband, need protecting from me? This bag was designed to go in my larger notions bag and it seemed like a good idea to make it out of the same fabric. Except, all weekend every time I opened the big bag, which was happening often as I was finishing projects, I would shout that it had had a baby as I produced the smaller bag. And could I do this once or even twice, no I had to do it every single time.

My Second Oldest Project

is finished

I’m not sure if I should begin with the start, the finish or the middle. Why did I start this project, and why did I choose to finish it and what exactly do I mean by the middle? And that is where I am going to start.

When we moved two years ago I went through all my sewing and yarn supplies/stash and was ruthless in my decision making as to what to keep. I then invited a knitting friend to go through it all to take what she wanted and I invited a sewing friend to do the same. Everything else that I did not want to keep went to Goodwill.

Very good but what does this have to do with projects? In my supplies I had projects that were not only unfinished but looked like they never would be. An example the quilt shown here. But the biggest, abandoned seems too weighty a word and forgotten isn’t true, how about ignored, project was a sewing project cut out but not sewn that I resolved to work on. I decided two hours once a week would be a good target as often with sewing an hour isn’t long enough.

So how come I had fabric cut out but no sewing? Let’s go back to our previous move the one from the US to Canada and then just a bit before that when Jo-Ann had a sale and I bought fabric to make PJs and a robe for myself. I made the PJs but then the move was set up. I vaguely remember cutting out the robe before the house went on the market because I could then work on it during all the waiting time. What was I thinking? We bought, sold and moved in three weeks. Those of you who haven’t given up reading are asking “why didn’t you sew it when you moved to your new house?” That would be the obvious thing to do except we moved at Christmas. And for Christmas my husband gave me a robe he had purchased while on a business trip in China. So there I was with a pattern all ready to go but it would have been rude to have made it.

Now all these years later it is finally finished. I don’t know when I started the two hours a week but I know I wasn’t consistent with it. Also the two hours wasn’t cast in stone. If I came to a convenient stopping place before two hours I would but it was a good target.

Now my new second oldest project which is something I started in Canada will take up the time slot.

Waiting For Photos

At knitting group I was asked how many projects still needed to be cast off. Casting off is not the problem taking artsy farty photos of the finished items is what is not happening. There are five finished projects which are awaiting their debut. One of which being the shawl, but there is also June's charity project, another shawl(ette) and two small projects.

As for those not-quite-finished items. The skirt is still one of those. I blocked it this week but the ends have to be sewn in. There is also a toy that needs to be put together and then yesterday I finished a sock so the toes needs to be kitchenered and the ends sewn in and I finished a hat which has a lot of ends to be secured.

I finally purchased beads for a shawl that has been waiting for a long time but that will be slow going and I started a baby cardigan for a friend's grandchild that is due later this year.

And to help with the stash I sold another ball of yarn. I still have three I wouldn't object to selling but no worries if I don't.

And There's More

Still no picture of the shawl but I do have photos of the hat and gloves I made for a gift and of the socks.

The hat and gloves were for the daughter of old friends of my husband. She has graduated from high school and will be going to university in upstate New York. Coming from the Bay Area hats and gloves are a definite requirement.



The white isn't as blindingly white as shown in the photo but that's about the best picture that I took. I had to buy three balls of yarn for this project but only completely used one ball. The yarn is machine washable merino so I will use what is left for a baby cardigan for a baby due later this year.

And here is the hat. This really was a last minute finish so I have just one photo. The evening before we left I showed finished hat to husband. He didn't like it. So then quickly took and texted pictures to my youngest friend for her opinion - she also didn't like it. This is the before photo.



I managed to removed the tassels and undo the kitchenered seam at the top without cutting any yarn. I was then able to work decreases for a more conventional hat. This is the final result.



And then there were socks. One of the challenges for May was fauna. So I cast on Wonderland Socks. They are illusion knitting with a cat. This yarn was in my stash, purchased, who knows when, for a completely different project. This pattern took exactly 50 grams of each colour. (So two more balls out of my stash :) )



And then to help my numbers, I sold some more yarn. So my yarn in is lower than my yarn out. Can I keep it that way until the San Diego Yarn Crawl?

Photographic Evidence

I promised photos a while ago and here they are. Although I have pictures of only three projects as I need to employ the services of my husband to take a photo of the shawl.

I am going to do this in order of finishing. First off the WIP list were these mittens.



I have had the pattern - Fiesta Mittens by Lucy Neatby for quite a while and even bought yarn for them on last year's San Diego Yarn Crawl. But like all good plans, I changed my mind. The white yarn - Koigu Premium Merino - was purchased for this project but the blue yarn - Jawoll Magic by Lang Yarns was left over from the socks shown here. The other yarn I did buy for this project, I swapped with a friend. So I don't have to think what to make with it now it had not been used for its original purpose. (Yes, I do know that I have to think about the yarn I got in the swap.)



I did not like the patterning on the thumbs in the original pattern so I changed their position and knitted them in one colour.

Next off the needles was a soft toy. The pattern was the very first thing I queued on Ravelry. I don't know why I queued it or why I made it but I like it and maybe a child will play with it one day. It was in my queue for so long because I didn't feel inclined to buy yarn especially to make it. Going through my leftovers one day, it clicked that the yellow yarn could be used for this. The yarn is Caron Simply Soft Baby Sport and the black yarn and stuffing were also in my stash.



The third item to show off is the tea cosy for May. Here is where I showed it in pieces. And now it is finished. I worked the tie as an I-cord rather than crochet. Two reasons - 1) it is neater; 2) I needed something easy to work on at knit group.



At the end of May, I said the finishing of the skirt might be delayed because I had to knit some gifts. This was the case and the skirt hasn't been touched but I did finish a pair of gloves and a hat for a gift and I have nearly finished the second sock. Also I need to buy some beads so that I can start working on a shawl again that has been on hold for a very long time.

Sewing Sunday

Although I have not written about it for a couple of months, I have been sewing. Bags of course. Usually I find a pattern on the internet, follow the instructions and then improve them for the next time. This is definitely the case with these two bags.

The first bag I made just because but it has turned out to be just right for some binoculars which do not have a bag or case. The problem with this bag is the zipper. I think that the blog writer photographed the bag at various stages and then wrote the instructions. The width of the bag is the same as the actual length of the zipper so the zipper teeth are in the seam this is made worse with my bag as I used a chunky zip.



The second bag, although also made just because, I hoped would work as a project bag. There are a couple of mistakes that are entirely of my own making:- despite my trying not to do this, or so I thought, the pattern on each handle faces in opposite directions; I machined the turn up edge of the lining which then meant it didn't stretch which meant it didn't quite fit the bottom of the bag. I am trying to not let this bug me and just use the bag.

When I make this bag again, and I can see my husband shaking his head as he does not understand my need to make bags, I will make the handles a bit narrower, I will place the pockets lower in the bag, and I will make side seams on both sides of the bag so I can add things in both seams if I want. With this bag I added a D-ring on the outside and a swivel hook on the inside.



And in case you are wondering, the base of the bag is a table mat.

Nature Abhors a Vacuum

Life, um I mean my stash, took an exciting turn on Monday; I sold some yarn and my stash went down by 5 balls. But yesterday it went back up to the same number as I had to buy yarn for gift knitting. Oh well, I better get knitting.

We're All Looking For A Quick Fix, But........

I was browsing the new groups on Ravelry at the weekend and one of the groups I took a closer look at was Knit N’ Fit 3-week Challenge. The idea of the group to motivate each other in reaching personal health goals in eating and exercise.

The premise sounds good so I looked at the posts made by the group leader (who is in her twenties). She starts off with a post about putting on weight and the decision to get healthy, all good so far until she mentions one plan where she lost 15 pounds in three weeks, most of that in the first 14 days. What? This is not someone who is so morbidly obese that a slight reduction in calories will result in that sort of weight loss. How limited were her calories to lose almost a pound a day, (she said most of the 15 pounds was in 14 days) and how come she wasn't losing weight after that. My guess is that her body had adjusted to the reduced calorie load because it was too low.

I then looked at her other posts and amongst these she spoke about keeping carbohydrates in moderation and in one recipe there was much more protein than carbs. Once again someone has confused all carbs with bad carbs. ie refined carbohydrates are not good therefore all carbohydrates are bad. The majority of our calories should be coming form carbohydrates but that shouldn't be white bread and sugar. In the same way as fat is essential in our diet, it shouldn't be obtained through high calorific trans fat.

What is sad about this group and the host is that she means well and it is good to motivate others for fitness and health but not when your information is just plain wrong.

And Then There Was One

Last week I wrote that I should have four completed projects and I do. Although the unfinished project is not the one that I was expecting but I'm not complaining because four is what I wanted and four is what I got. And when I say finished, I mean finished, blocked and ends sewn in, all that's missing are the final pictures.

I did finish the shawl. As Monday was a holiday, I decided it would be a good time to not do the normal Monday chores and spend time blocking the shawl. I am so glad I did because I love it. (This was the project I didn't expect to finish.)

I'm glad I wrote a list because I actually embroidered the face on a toy. I didn't enjoy it but I did it. The item I didn't finish was the skirt. I picked up stitches along the waistband and I just need to insert elastic and cast off. I could finish it this week except there are two gifts that have to take priority. I am not going to promise myself that it will be finished in a week's time but it will be worked on as soon as the gifts are finished.

Look out for a post with photos. Actually I'll make that a priority after the gift projects.

I Have A Little List

I listen to ABC radio. The A stands for Australian. I like listening to it during the day as it is night time in Australia so there is not too much chatter. It can get a bit confusing though when they give the day/date as one time I panicked a little as I thought I had forgotten my sister's birthday. But, of course, the radio station was already on the next day.

The other day they played The Daleks performing Gilbert and Sullivan. It was funny for, let's say, 30 seconds. Would a Whovian play it for longer?

Anyway, I thought of that when I was writing my list of projects I have to work on this week. It really wasn't practical to keep referring to Saturday's post for what I should be working on so I wrote a list. Nothing fancy, just in the order they appeared in the post and just what the item is. I wrote the list last night and I could immediately check off 1 1/2 projects. :) The list is not in the order I have to work, just an aide-mémoire, but seeing it in writing has me convinced to work on the project that I was most likely to put off. Especially as I like to see things completed that were on my to do list.

Finish Something Why Don't You

I need a plan.

A couple of things happened this week that made me realise that I need to finish some things.

Firstly, I had book group this week. Not only did I have to finish the book but I had to cast on a new project to take with me. Secondly, a friend and I were going to have a fun knitalong for May Gray but I couldn't start it yesterday because both sets of needles in the size I wanted to use were on other projects and one of those projects just needs to be cast off.

The problem is that I like to do something else while I'm knitting, read, watch a movie, chat with friends, but the finishing stages of a project require more concentration. Action is required to actually finish some projects otherwise I will keep adding to them.

So here we go, the projects that are almost finished but not quite.

I have three projects that are actually off the needles but need finishing touches. There's the tea cosy which needs seaming and a drawstring tie. This isn't an abandoned project because I have worked on it each week this month. The tie would be perfect for working on at knit group. I finally finished the cast off for the close-to-being-finished shawl. Now it needs to be blocked. This is something that takes time and cannot be hurried so I will have to block (ha pun?) off some time on my calendar. The third item not on needles but not finished is a toy that needs a face. I find with these things that the embroidery does not take any time, its making sure each feature is in the right place that takes time and care.

Then I have two items that are two rows away from being finished. Firstly the previously mentioned project with the needles I want. It is a sewn bind off in dark wool which won't take very long but I need to do it in daylight. And the other item is the skirt I have been working on for a long time - it's stocking stitch in the round so saved for things like book club - I need to pick up stitches around the waist band, insert elastic and cast off.

So really, apart from the shawl, these projects won't take too long to finish, I just need some daylight hours.

Plan, simple really, pick one project a day and finish it, starting with the easiest. Then I should have four completed projects to report on next week.

Tea Cosy Tuesday umm Thursday?

Last week I said that I had joined in the fun for the May cosy and that I had even made all the parts. I thought I had posted photos of the parts - but no. So here are photos of the front and back of the cosy, which were knitted, and the crocheted flowers. These were the parts completed by last week. And then there is a picture of the flowers sewn on. I do have some buttons that I could sew into the middle of the flowers but they would completely cover the yellow centre and then what is the point of the centre being a different colour.







I still have to embroider the stems and leaves and then sew up the sides. A completed project to show next week?

I do have a completed project to show off this week. It is an oddball blanket which I signed up for as the requirement was for variegated yarns - any pattern - and I had some in my stash. I decided to use a purpley colour left over from a previous blanket. I wanted a pattern a bit more interesting than straight stocking stitch so I found the knot pattern in one of my stitch dictionaries. It is a simple pattern; the knot is worked by purling three together, then knitting the same three stitches together and then purling them together again.



I haven't signed up for any more blankets but I have not ruled out not working on any more.

I completely used up the yarn on my part of the blanket so that counts as a ball out plus I sold two skeins of yarn in my stash so I have reduced yarn in by two balls and associated meterage. Talking about stash, following some brain storming with knitterly friends I am now looking at some yarns in my stash in a different light, also there are some yarns I might sell. This is making my stash seem less of a burden and actually something I can reduce.

Finished Friday

I was all excited about this post as I thought I had a few projects to show off but it turns out that I only have two. Even so two is better than none.

Firstly socks. This is another pattern - Lindsay - from Sock Innovation by Cookie A and is the third pattern from the book that I have made the others being Rick that I made way back in 2009/10 and Wanida that I finished recently.

I want to show some close ups of the yarn. I purchased it at the end of 2011 because I liked the way it was dyed although I had no idea what to make with it as I thought that plain stocking stitch would show it off best but I did not want to knit plain socks.



The colourway is named Christmas Lights and the yarn 80% merino, 20% nylon feels soft. Unfortunately the dyer is no longer dying yarn.

I followed the pattern as written although I was a bit wary about the garter stitch heels and toes but as this is knit at fine gauge they did not come out bulky.



If you're thinking that one looks bigger then the other - you're right. I blocked only one so I could see if there was any difference.

The other item finished was a hat for Operation Gratitude. It is a crochet pattern that can be found here. I used two colours of Vanna Choice yarn that I had purchased recently. I used the size hook stated in the pattern rather than the hook size on the yarn label which I would usually do. So my hat isn't very slouchy but is a good hat nonetheless. This was a quick crochet.



At the beginning of the week when I said I had won some yarn, I forgot to post a photo. So here is the yarn I won from the Operation Gratitude group on Ravelry.

May Madness

I was bored with WIPping Wednesdays so I have gone for a new alliteration. Like many potential posts, this one was written in my head at the beginning of the month but is only now making it into print.

We are almost halfway through the month and I am now writing about beginning of the month challenges. Place in context if possible.

The start of each month brings a new set of challenges. For me it is sock knitters, Operation Gratitude and tea cosies. Away from Ravelry it is the books of the month suggested by Amazon. But I'm just talking knitting/crochet challenges today. Firstly, I know that I do not have to take part in any of the challenges but I have pledged to myself that I will make something for Operation Gratitude each month, also as I want to use up all my sock yarn starting a challenge from the sock knitters group is a good way to go, and why not throw a tea cosy into the mix. Although I will only follow that challenge if I have yarn in my stash hence not making the last two.

The Operation Gratitude project I start straight away regardless of what else I have on the go. Once again the administrator came up with hats and I chose the crochet option using two colours that I bought last month specifically for this purpose. I can't count either of them as balls of yarn out but they are on their way. This hat is finished and will appear in a finished project round up soon.

Having finished a pair of socks at the beginning of the month I decided to dig into my sock yarn stash and start a pair to fit the current month's challenge:- Featured Techniques: Flora/fauna or Science/technology/geek: Featured Designers: Rachel Coopey and Nicki Miller. Looking through my queue and favourites on Ravelry I decided on this pattern, using yarn that I had purchased in Calgary to make gloves. Although the original purpose for the yarn does not matter as long as I use it. I have not got very far with these but the socks I did finish will appear soon.

Finally I decided to take part in the monthly tea cosy pattern. The pattern was for a small size and I do not have any cosies specifically for my small tea pot plus I had yarn in my stash. All the knitting and crochet is complete I just need to sew all the parts together.

And then we come to the projects that were already on the needle at the start of the month. Despite starting the other projects listed above, I have been working on the mittens, one is completed except the bind off at the cuff and the other needs a thumb and cuff but I haven't touched the cast off of the shawl.

And there is another project to throw into the mix. Last week I received an oddball blanket. I put my name down for this one at the beginning of January as it was to be worked in variegated yarn and I had some I could use up. I chose a simple pattern and started on my section last night and I should finish by the end of the week.

I do not record meters out until I have shown photos of finished items so meters knitted/crocheted has not gone up but yarn in has gone up because I was given some yarn. I won Operation Gratitude's group drawing at the end of April and chose yarn. I am hoping I will be able to turn it into projects for Operation Gratitude.

WIPping Wednesday (Last for April)

Another week without a finished item. I was expecting this but I have a couple of projects that are very close to completion; I just need to set some time aside.

Firstly there's the so-close-but-never-finished shawl. I pulled out two rows. I didn't put in a lifeline just proceeded carefully as one row was beads and YOs and decreases and the other row, although plain followed such a row so I had to make sure that I did not undo more than that row. I then added a lifeline so if I still do not have enough yarn to complete the cast off I can pull it out.

The other item close to completion are the socks I started a couple of weeks ago. All the knitting is completed and I just need to graft/kitchener the toes. Usually not a problem, except the socks were worked cuff down with short row toes which means the seam is across the width of the sock. So I have 32 stitches to kitchener in dark yarn - twice.

Having finished the socks I cast on a mitten. Yes I know it is not going to be cold enough for mittens even in Canada but I have had the pattern for a while and I bought the yarn on the yarn crawl last year especially for this pattern so I just decided to go for it. It is two colour knitting so something I can do during all the hockey play off games.

WIPping Wednesday

After two weeks with finished items there's nothing to report this week. Nothing finished and nothing cast on. (Although I did restart the sock I cast on last week.)

I started the cast off of the always close-to-being-finished shawl and reached the half-way mark of the yarn before I reached the half-way point of the shawl. I undid what I had cast off (so glad I put in a life line) and now I have to work up the courage to frog the last worked row which has beads and YOs as well as K2togs and SSKs. A life line will calm the heart.

I am close to finishing one sock but I am not expecting a Finished Friday this week.

Finished Friday

As I said on Wednesday I have two projects to show today. And looking at my current projects it will be at least a couple of weeks before I have any more finished items.

These two projects were finished on the same day.

Firstly socks. I started these on our recent trip to Spain. Start to finish was just over a month but I did not knit on them every day so actual knitting time was less.

The yarn is that shown at the end of this blog post and the pattern is Wanida by Cookie A from her book Sock Innovation. I have now knitted two patterns from this book and am just starting a third. Does that make up for the books where I have not knit one pattern?

The yarn feels soft knitted up even though this is a tight pattern. The socks fit but are a little tight so it will be interesting to see how much they stretch when worn. The yarn was a gift from my friend Clair - check out her store at Purple Gecko Studio. I did not think to check for errata before we went away. (When I first started knitting there were never mistakes in patterns and even now with mistakes all over the place it never occurs to me to check.) When I got to the heel there was obviously a mistake, which I could work out for myself how to remedy, but as we had free WiFi at that point I was able to check the publisher's errata.



The other finished project is a hat for Operation Gratitude. My aim is to make one project a month from the suggestions put forward by the group and I have managed that so far. I have been crocheting the hats but I chose the knit pattern this month as I needed a project for knit group. (Not that you have to knit at knit group, just that this month the knit hat pattern was easier than the crochet pattern.) Start to finish was five days. The pattern is Weather the Weather Hat available on Ravelry and I used Red Heart Soft and a size 5 mm circular needle. It is 40 cm in length and just the right size for adult hats until the end. I used half the ball of yarn. I was going to use the Paprika colour left over from the scarf but wasn't sure if I had enough. It would have been close so I'm glad I didn't try. I had bought the purple yarn earlier this year as I did not think I would have enough to finish this tea cosy. As it turned out I did not need it for the tea cosy which was a good thing as I am only knitting cosies from stash but the yarn could go to charity projects. (I had contemplated returning it to keep my yarn in down.)

WIPping Wednesday (Third in April)

Another successful week of finished items.

Although one item was cast on and finished during the week so it wasn't a WIP for long. This was a hat for charity that I mentioned that I would cast on. I used yarn that I bought a couple of months ago that I thought I would need for the tea cosy but didn't end up using. This was my last unused ball of yarn suitable for charity knitting, so I had to buy some more.

Actually, it seemed from Michaels's flyer that they had a few kinds on sale but the branch I went to had just one type of washable worsted on sale. I bought three balls to keep me going for a few months. So yarn in has gone up but as I don't record a ball of yarn as "out" until it is mostly used I am not showing a reduction in balls of yarn used which is why I have metres knitted and crocheted to aim for that number to be higher than the number in. In is still higher than out but finishing a couple of my older WIPs will change that. Hmm, finishing the older WIPs? I really should set some time aside to cast off the shawl. I think one of the problems is that in the back of my mind I am concerned that I do not have enough yarn to complete the cast off. But I've already ripped out rows because I had more yarn than I thought so what will it matter if I have to undo part of a row?

The other item finished this week was a pair of socks. I measured them against a pair that fit well and decided that although they looked short they were the right size.

As the hat was my charity project for the month, it was not replaced with a new project but as I have sock yarn that should be turned into socks another one was cast on last night.

Finished Friday

As mentioned in the last post, I have two finished items to show.

Firstly a baby hat. I found the pattern through a blog. It is Knit Baby Hat by Bernat. The pattern is worked flat and seamed but I changed to working on the round. I used Red Heart Soft left over from this hat so I worked the smallest size to allow for the thicker yarn. I also worked more increases as 20 stitches is too many to draw up especially with a worsted weight yarn.



The other finished item is a scarf knitted for charity. The suggestions for March were scarves - not my favourite thing to make. Mostly I have been crocheting the charity items as it is usually quicker but I didn't feel like crocheting a scarf so I chose the knitting pattern. It is the windward waves pattern (not capitalized) and is available on Ravelry. The pattern calls for three colours so ideal for using leftovers. The yarn had been used in the hats I made in January and February. With this pattern it was definitely advantageous to be able to knit backwards - ie moving stitches from the right needle to the left needle. I hadn't done this for a while and I was surprised at how easy it was to work the technique. To keep ends to a minimum I did not cut each colour when I had finished with it but carried it up the side for the next time. I did cut each colour once in the middle. I was surprised at how quickly the knitting went. My dates on Ravelry are not accurate as I cast on before we went away but did not work on it until we returned.

This photo was taken as soon as the scarf was finished but I have since blocked it and it looks better.