Christmas Knitting--Small Scrap Shawl with Collar

This was truly a scrap project, using many weights and textures of predominantly brown-tones, in a garter stitch pattern of double increases along a center stitch. It needs a shawl pin of some sort. I may put fringe along the bottom. Sorry, but I didn't keep any counts along the way and have no pattern.

Christmas Presents--Knit Bolero-Style Cardigan

Three skeins of the antique rose (see a few posts down, where I report on 19 skeins of yarn bought for $5). This is the "Bolero Style Cardigan" from the Crystal Palace yarn site. It's one of those origami style patterns, where one knits one rather ungainly piece that is then folded into shape, and held together by a neckband. The horizontal lace pattern of the back is twisted up into a vertical pattern on the front.

Don't make it, though. The pattern is so badly written that it's nearly impossible to tell how to accomplish this, with nothing at all said about where to sew, and how to form the neck. I finally resorted to writing to the designer, who didn't answer. In desperation, I just finished it by trial and error (and ripping). I actually changed the buttons after the picture was taken, to some bigger, flatter ones, which hold it all together much better than these metal ones. It's for one of the girls. Size 40 across the chest.

A Pattern: One-Row Guy Scarf

It's hard to photograph scarves, because if someone is wearing it, it's usually too far away to see the stitch pattern, but if it's just flat on the table, it really doesn't show the finished product very well. I hope you can visualize the full thing from this small sample.

ONE ROW SCARF

There are a lot of one-row scarf patterns, and I really like the symmetry they provide in a scarf--reversable, simple, yet textured. I think they're great for the men in our lives.

Materials: Worsted weight yarn. I used one skein of Woolease from the stash. The ribbed pattern breaks up the variegation and makes the scarf look rather tweedy.

Needles: US 9. You can use a 10 if you like, as a looser knit makes this scarf drape nicely.

CO 30.

Pattern: *K2, P* to last three stitches. K3.

Repeat until scarf is as long as you like. It makes a ribbed scarf with a finished-looking edge. It really looks much more complex than you would think. You'll love it!

Newsboy Cap & Lacy Scarf--Two Crocheted UFOs

This slouchy newsboy cap is another UFO that languished for more than a year, to my embarrassment. The problem here was that after I finished the cap (out of some rummage sale yarn), the instructions said to stiffen the brim with plastic before sewing together. I wasn't sure how to do this, and just put it aside. Recently, a friend was telling me how she cut up a milk carton to make some bobbins, and a light went on in my little brain. Ahhhhhh-- what an obvious source of thin plastic. It took about two minutes to trace the bill onto the side of the carton and cut out a piece. Luckily, I had left a long tail of yarn. In another minute, it was sewn shut. Voila! It was sent out today with a bag of Christmas gifts to the teen shelter. The styro head is a little small to show this hat off to its full advantage. It's quite cute.

Next, I had started a lacy little scarf out of the very thin pink cone yarn left after I made the vest for my MIL last year. I don't know why I stopped, but suspect I realized a scarf just doesn't go well with such a vest. When I needed a few more gifts for the girls at the shelter, I took it out, added about 10 more rows, blocked it, and wrapped it up.

It's so satisfying to get stuff out of this cluttered house.

Done at Long Last

These half-finished socks have been stuffed in a plastic bag for years. I was seduced by all of the new self-patterning sock yarns and started these before I realized how ugly the colors looked. That along with the simple, boring style just made me lose interest. So, they remained a UFO until last week when I was going to babysit and had nothing to take along except secret Christmas knitting, so I grabbed them. It's a relief to have them done and out of the knitting bag.