Roses Are Red

And violets are black
Learn to machine knit
And you'll never look back.

Yeah, okay.  I tried.

At the machine knitting group I joined, we had a workshop making the fern lace scarf that Diana has a video for.  We were recommended to have 2-3 50gr balls of a DK weight yarn, if using the lk150.  I looked all through my stash and didn't see anything that I had enough of and that I wanted to commit to a scarf that I might not even like.  I grabbed a cone of red Bramwell 4ply.

It's a fun scarf to make, although repetitive.  The version we were taught made scallops on the side; the one in Diana's video doesn't.  Basically, you're working 6 rows on two groups of 3 needles at a time, then pulling the next group on the left into work, then knit to the left, then put the group on the right into hold so you're back at two groups.  Once you work all the way across the row, you then tighten up the tension and knit 4 rows.  It creates a sort of ruched look.

I finished it at the meeting, and when I got home I emailed my cousin, who's daughter loves red, and asked if she'd like it.  The response was "YES YES YES", without even having seen it, LOL!

 I steamed it to smooth the edge curl, and realized really quickly not to flatten it!

It looked a little better than these pictures once I got it steamed.  The colour is a true Christmas red.  I mailed it off and a while later got a response saying that she loves it, and wants one in black,  and her best friend wants one to match, LOL.

Now, my cousin and my grandmother did knit (I've posted the picture before of her showing me how), but stopped when I was fairly young.  My cousin's mom also knit (raised the sheep, sheared them, dyed the fleece, spun the wool, the whole nine yards), but didn't really do a lot of kids stuff.  My cousin's other grandma though....all my cousin had to do was call her up and say "I got a new pink skirt and I'd like a vest for it" and wham, there'd be one in her mailbox in two weeks.  A few years ago, I "inherited" a bunch of her knitting books and I'm very grateful for that.  So, I feel great being able to knit for my "niece" and even make one for her friend.

 I made this one on the standard gauge, using a cone of black...Spindlecraft "Salem" 70% acrylic, 30% wool.  It's a pretty tightly spun yarn, not soft.

Again, I steamed it on the edges, but I forgot to wash it, maybe it would have softened up?
This one is for the friend.  I'm also working on a black "potato chip scarf" for my "niece".

Yarn In:  10 566gr
Yarn Out:  63gr (black scarf) + 73gr (red scarf) = 136gr + 5941gr = 6077gr
Balance: 4489gr more In than used
Costs:  $177.48 / 90 days = $1.97