the blue blog archives: scarf fiesta

We'll kick off this week's finishing fiesta with the last two scarves for the scarf project.

This garter stitch scarf thing is fun! And these sideways scarves are my favorite. I love the look of the stripes going the length of the scarf. But the best part is that there are no ends to weave in. Woo hoo! Simply wrap the ends into some fringe and voila, no finishing a-tall. Too bad I can't do fringe at the seams of all my sweaters! (It would work well for a poncho though, right Kimberly?)

After attaching the fringes, I have barely a foot left over of each color. I just scraped three scarves out of the five skeins that I had. I so enjoy not having extra yarn left over. It's like doing the extra credit problem - okay, this time make three scarves, but don't have any yarn left over. Bonus points for me!

posted by alison at 12:19 am | in accessories

Comments

[Comes storming in, accompanied by a big band of mariachis.]

I love your clever scarves and the stripe placement. A fiesta is definitely in order!

Posted by: Becky at October 7, 2003 1:45 AM

I adore the purple/white/off-white color combo... would probably never have thought of it myself, but it's just lovely :)

Posted by: kim at October 7, 2003 3:34 AM

You are such a prolific knitter!

For the sideways scarves did you consider breaking the yarn after each row and knotting the tails at each side to make the fringe? I have made leftover blankets this way.

Posted by: Melissa at October 7, 2003 5:13 AM

Didn't you just have a finishing fiesta? You're amazing!

Posted by: Stacy at October 7, 2003 6:18 AM

Kim, the "off-white" color is actually yellow. The light from yon bedroom window kind of washed it out a bit.

Melissa, I thought about doing that, but I knew that I'd be cutting it close with yarn and I really wanted to be sure that the final product was legitimate scarf width. So, I opted for little less fringe for a little more scarf. I want to try it sometime though! I've seen scarves like that in my LYS.

Stacy, this week's finishing fiesta has only begun. Stay tuned! I'm "frenzying" to get all my projects finished before we leave for vacation next week.

Posted by: alison at October 7, 2003 6:56 AM

Great scarves! Great stripes! How many sts to go sideways like that?

Posted by: Marg at October 7, 2003 7:52 AM

Marg, I did the color block scarf first so I would know the gauge of the yarn and could estimate how many stitches to cast on for the sideways scarf. I think I ended up with 160!

Posted by: alison at October 7, 2003 8:02 AM

Que viva la fiesta!

Posted by: shannon at October 7, 2003 8:27 AM

Definitely bonus points for no pesky yarn leftovers!

Posted by: claudia at October 7, 2003 8:43 AM

Hi Alison, your scarves are gorgeous! I have some leftovers that would be too cool as stripey scarves knit the way yours are. thanks for the great idea!

I finished my poncho last night! You can move me to the finished list now!

Photo posted at my blog! :) Thanks for hosting it, I had a great time knitting it and it's SO warm!

Posted by: Stella at October 7, 2003 10:13 AM

i LOVE the scarves. great colors. how long are the ones you did? what size needles? was it lamb's pride for all of the colors?

Posted by: K at October 7, 2003 10:16 AM

They look great Alison, I've never made a sideways stripe scarf before so I think i should give it a try..

Can you add me to the Phildar knitalong please, I'll be starting my Giboulees sweater next week..

Posted by: kerrie at October 7, 2003 10:28 AM

v.v.v pretty scarves. your love affair with colour is so fantastic!! i know, i have said this before, but it is true!! btw...wore my groovy purple poncho to work today and got lots of compliments. i am thinking i might like to make a short one, in rowan plaid....hmmmm, if only i did not have to work for a living.

Posted by: elisabeth at October 7, 2003 11:33 AM

K, the scarves ended up being between 40-48 in. long (before fringe) and 6-6 1/2 in. wide. The yarn was Brown Sheep Superwash Bulky and I used US#10 needles.

I'm so glad I've inspired some of you to make stripey scarves. They were so fun to knit and with cool colors they come out looking great. Have fun with them!

Posted by: alison at October 7, 2003 11:47 AM

Ooohh...cute! Now it's margarita time. Okay, you deserve my lazy girl frozen margarita recipe. One can of frozen limeade concentrate in the blender, 1/2 to 3/4 can of tequila, fill up the blender with ice, blend, pour and drink! Yummy!

Posted by: Silvia at October 7, 2003 1:17 PM

i love scarves, i make at least one new one every year! :)

Posted by: carolyn at October 7, 2003 4:36 PM

i hope i don't come off as totally dense, but do you use circular needles for this, or do you do the three colors seperately in straight needles? i love the scarves so much and desperately want to imitate (or emulate) you!

Posted by: carriem at October 7, 2003 5:14 PM

Thanks for the recipe Siliva. After all of my finishing, I'll be ready for a little drinkie-poo!

Carrie, I used circular needles, but I wasn't knitting in the round. I cast on 160 stitches in pink, did 14 rows of garter stitch (knit every row), then just left a tail of the pink yarn hanging (to be knotted into the fringe) and started the next row with white. Did 12 garter stitch rows, changed to the red and did 14 rows of that. So it's back and forth knitting, but on a circular needle. If you have straights long enough to hold that many stitches, you could use them too. Make sense??

Posted by: alison at October 7, 2003 8:26 PM

thanks so much, allison. i just wanted to be positive before i launched into anything ...

Posted by: carriem at October 8, 2003 12:51 PM