Red Scarf number 3, 456...

 Probably not that high, but it feels like all I knit is red scarves. Well, that's pretty much all I do knit, with the exception of the white cardigan. I was looking at a crochet dress pattern but I don't seem to have appropriate yarn (unbelievable but true). 

Here's another scarf, inspired by the thick and thin ribbed one from the last red scarf post.  

It's a really basic ribbing, 1x1, but with a little twist!

It's a little hard to see, but it's one row of each of the two yarns. One row thick, slide back to the start. One row thin. Turn. One row thick, slide back, one row thin. Super easy!!

When I hung it up for the photos, it seemed to have a hole, but it's just where the thin yarn had been pulled tight across a few stitches.

The texture is really cool. When it's relaxed, it almost has a crocheted feel because the thin yarn retreats an the thick yarn doesn't have anything to hold the stitches tight and in their proper shape. Add some tension, and you can see the stitch definition better.  This scarf took 89 grams.

Yarn In:  0 grams

Yarn Out: 89gr + 1756gr = 

Balance:  1845 gr more OUT than in

Costs:  $0

All You Need is.....Red

 Red, red, red.  I don't know what I'm going to do when I run out of red yarn. Yes, there's other charities to knit for, though one local just posted that some items aren't required for awhile. 

This one I worked on while taking Megan to Thunder Bay; 2 day road trip and a flight home.  96gr

Above--two basic rib stitch scarves, 125gr and 110gr.

Below:  This one is the most recent, it went to Calgary/Banff with me. It's a two yarn brioche/slip rib. It was kind of tricky to set up since it's done flat, on one circular needle. 85gr

One side has the thin yarn as the knit stitches, and you can see the thick yarn being carried

The other side, you basically see only the thick yarn's knit stitches.

Makes for an interesting reversible fabric. You're basically knitting a 4 row pattern:

Row 1--thick yarn, knit every other stitch, slip the purl stitches

Row 2--slide stitches back to tip, use thin yarn and work the purl stitches, slip the thick knits

Row 3--Turn, work the purl stitches with thick yarn and slip the thin knits

Row 4--slide back to tip, use thin yarn to knit the thin knits and slip the thick purls.

It took awhile to post these because I washed the ribbed ones, and there was something in the load that left fuzz all over them. I finally got a sweater shaver and now they look okay.

Currently working on a ribbed one that one row thick yarn, one row thin yarn--again, on circular needles so I can slide the work back as needed. It has a very interesting texture! Almost a crocheted look.

Still haven't bought yarn. Thought I might on our family trip but I was out voted when it came time to choose free time LOL

Yarn In:  0 grams

Yarn Out: 416gr + 1340gr =1756gr

Balance:  1756 gr more OUT than in

Costs:  $0

Back to Red

 I still have the red yarn I bought in the early fall, so I'm still pumping out red scarves for World AIDS Day later this year!

A pretty simple crochet stitch from a stitch dictionary.  I did have to start it several times though. Too wide, take off what the math says should come off. Try again.  Too narrow.  Add back half of what you took off. Why does yarn math do this?!

I realized after I started that if I just crocheted the length, the two ends would match. So I crocheted 3 feet, and stopped. Then I went back to the original chain, and worked the other direction for 3 feet. Just a simple thing but it makes it look so much nicer in the end.  This one took 115 grams.

I also knit up a ribbed hat to use up the rest of the navy yarn from the booties. This one I re-did several times for a variety of reasons. I'm not fond of worsted weight for newborn hats, but it's done. 

I swear, it's navy blue, not slate blue. I guess using my black chest freezer for the backdrop wasn't a good choice.

It took a whopping 26 grams of mystery navy yarn.  

Remember how I had found 3 unstuffed mice, a few blog posts ago?  Well, even though this storage ottoman is quite small, I found a bunch more when I decided I was going to take everything out and see what needed finishing.

Some came out a little wild looking--those two green ones!  One has a squished in nose, the other one has a nose like an alligator gar (a fish), or an anteater!

These took a total of  218 grams.  To stuff them, I used yarn ends, a baby photo prop hat that was in the bin that got wrecked when I washed it, scraps of yarn I had in this bin that I didn't like, etc. And catnip!

Not in the ottoman but in the drawer where I keep some other knitting related stuff were some bear parts. I had previously bagged them, there were two bears plus a body and a leg.  I had some trouble keeping track of parts, and I forgot I had used different sized needles...I had to reknit one leg...I used the first one to stuff the second one! 

I love these guys. I tried to stuff on the looser side so they'd be squishy. They took 70 grams.

I also threw out a hat I had made but had issues with and took partially apart and never got back to it. Just threw that sucker in the trash. No trying to save the yarn (I did like the yarn!). And you know what? It felt good! 

The ottoman is still full though. A bag of mice, a baby set, three bears, an old Christmas tree skirt section, and a bag from Lewiscraft...which closed in 2007 (I actually thought it was much sooner than that). I think this came from a friend of my mom, or my mother-in-law. There's a pair of very tall light blue socks, one finished, one almost finished, and a pair of burgundy gloves, also almost finished. I guess I might as well finish them. It might show a difference, but to someone that needs these items, I'm sure they won't mind. Both are too big for me.  

So in the need-to-finish list, I have:

• these socks and gloves
• Christmas tree skirt (started in 2000 I think)
• 3 Sophie purses that need handles attached (the pattern came out in 2004, and I worked on one while in the hospital having a baby so that would have been Megan in 2005). 
• several baby sweaters that need buttons

I've also started on another red scarf! 

I also got rid of a giant skein of yarn I bought from the last time I went to the Spinrite sale in 2009.  I had quite a few people interested and some even wanted me to ship it. Perhaps I should have asked more than $5.  It was huge, but needed winding and had some over dye on some of it.  I figured no one would want it!  I'm not including it in my yarn totals because it was from before I started keeping track and really, it would have made my numbers so skewed.

Yarn In:  0 grams

Yarn Out: 115+ 26 + 218 + 70 + 681gr = 1110gr

Balance:  1110 gr more OUT than in

Costs:  $0

Seeing Red

 How many red scarves can I make? I can't even keep track. I have two pictures in my Google Photos that were since the last time I posted red scarves, but no actual "staged" photos.

This one was just double crochet, 20 per row. Super easy, super fast. The first one I did in DC was 18 stitches and I wanted just a bit bigger. A couple times I found out I had gone down to 19 DC, so I had to rip back. One time, it was quite a bit to rip out but it is super fast to crochet. 132 gr. 

This is another ribbed one. It was a bit narrow but I was hoping I could heavily steam it and stretch it looser. That didn't really happen but I'll throw it in anyway. It's more like 4-5" wide instead of 6". 

The school I have a small part time job at has started a "share closet" for extra supplies, donations, spare clothes etc. I'm going to donate the bag of mittens that I had from lunch supervision. Plus, I've made some in the mean time but never found anywhere to donate. I also decided to just grab some yarn and knit some tiny mittens. More on those in the next post. While looking in one of my storage ottomans for something, I found 3 felted but unstuffed mice. So I sewed them up with some catnip.

I also made two more fingerless gloves using the orange/yellow/pink yarn. I needed one to replace the too-yellow one from the last pair. Then I thought I might as well knit another to make that one into a pair, and donate those to the school. 

The too-yellow one on top, the new one at the bottom.

This is the pair I've ended up with for myself.

While I was in the ottoman, I found a fair isle ear flap hat I had made on the Singer 155 many years ago, that I wasn't totally happy with. There was a yarn tail hanging out, so I wove that in and threw it in the donation bag. Apparently I made it in 2011 and there were some issues. I don't know if I ever fixed all the issues....I sort of remember wearing it, but I've had so many hats. I'm not counting this yarn total since I really didn't even do much. I wasn't keep track of yarn back then.

Many knitters do a "Finish it February" theme, and perhaps that's what I'm doing too. I have a Christmas tree skirt pattern I think I bought in 2001 at Spinrite, in Listowel, back when it was still just Patons I think. And a mohair sweater from pre-blog....who knows what else....I have a bag of wool socks that need mending, but I rarely wear wool socks now. I have three Sofie purses from 2002/2003 that need handles (I think I have two of them, maybe even three). 

Yarn In:  0 grams

Yarn Out:  334gr + 206gr = 540gr

Balance:  540gr more OUT than in

Costs:  $0

Red, Red, Red

I finished up some red scarves since I last posted! 

Taking a look back, I was sure I had blogged about some of these, but it seems not! Here's the latest five scarves for World AIDS Day.

90gr

60gr

70gr

100gr

114gr

These five scarves were either out of the Bernat Super Value I picked up in the summer, or some old, shiny, slippery red yarn from the stash. The Bernat is actually quite nice when worked loosely and washed/dried.  All together, they weigh 434gr.

While on our cruise, there was a knitting/crocheting group that met up every other day or so. It was a ship run event, so a member of the Happenings Cast would be the host. I only got to go 3 times, I think. It conflicted with lectures I wanted to go to. One of the ladies learned how to make these little octopus, which is Virgin Voyages mascot (though for our ship, technically it's a robin egg's blue, but red is more synonymous with VV. She loaned me a hook and yarn, showed me how, and off I went. I made 3 in the last couple days of the cruise. They take about an hour each. I did the eyes once I got home. I did three different eyes because I couldn't decide. A vote in a FB crochet group said the ones on the right were best.  Megan took that one. They weigh about 10gr each, in a worsted weight (30gr total). 

On Boxing Day we went up to my Mom's in Bancroft. The girls wanted to go to Stedman's the next day, for old times' sake. It was fun. I bought 2 balls of Kroy sock yarn to make gloves, and I actually just did make them! That was 100gr, for $8.99 each, I don't think the tax break applies to yarn, so $20.32.

Yarn In:  2090gr + 100gr = 2190gr
Yarn Out: 464gr + 2055gr = 2519gr
Balance: 329gr more OUT than in
Costs: $20.32 + $44.55 = $64.87
 

Red, Pink, Purple

 It's been an interesting summer. I'm back to daily supply (substitute teaching) list. Let's leave it at that. 

Another red scarf in the bag. This one is crochet, a worsted weight, 4 rows of Double Crochet, and 2 rows of Double Crochet in the summer fine yarn I've used before (I have a giant cone). As I worked it, the fine yarn sections would contract inwards, and the scarf had this interesting bubble effect. It made it rather narrow though but I didn't know if blocking hard would straighten it out. I stretched and steamed and it seems to be behaving now.  99grams.

I finished the really large shawl I've been working on since mid-March (I think). I don't remember exactly where I found the pattern but it's a drop stitch lace, similar to the shrug I made last summer). You increase on one edge until you get to the width you want, then knit a wide section, then decrease. I wanted a large stole to wrap around me and almost be blanket like. It was really hard to stretch it out on the needles to check the width though. It's two strands of fine coned yarn (Spinrite tent sale?), and the black cone has a sticker indicating it's likely 50% wool, 50% acrylic and made in Spain. For those that understand the numbers, it's a 2/16. The other strand is a white and black plied together, totally unknown fiber. Originally I was going to use just it, but recognized that would take me a long time LOL.

I could have made it a little bit wider, but that straight section felt like it was taking forever! The decrease section got faster and faster, but I decided I didn't want to wind more balls of the yarn together so that I didn't end up winding too much and have a ball left over that I would never use, so I was carrying around two large cones of yarn. In the end, while the shawl is quite long, it's almost too long in the inc/dec sections. So, after washing and blocking I decided to cut off part of the narrowing end. 

Yup. Snip snip along the top of one pattern repeat. Gently pick out the stitches until back at one complete row and then I went back a few more rows to get to the start of the repeat. I casted off in pattern. This makes one long increasing section, a wide section, and a decreasing section that comes to a blunt end. 

It was at 299gr before I chopped the end off, that took off 12 gr. I'm going to keep it as 300gr because it's not like I can re-use that 12gr.

I'm also working on tiny bears for a local charity. I did two in a marled purple. I thought I grabbed the next size needles for the second purple bear but it seems I might have actually grabbed the next size smaller. They're the Bill and Ben Twin Bears from www.craftbit.com. That pattern sucks though, so I re-wrote it. If you'd like a copy, click HERE. There still might be some errors, so just let me know!

Disco Bear on the right. Sometimes they get their own personality. I see I forgot the mouth on the one on the left!

I got a large donation of yarn and the pink chenille and the purple were in it. The charity requests no animal fibers. I could not find a mid brown in my stash that wasn't at least some bit wool, but it was washable....I didn't want to risk it anyway. I don't like this brown but oh well.

Cut little bunny tail and freestyled floppy ears

Disco bear LOL. I don't know what happened when I sewed him together. The lower half looks like the toddler potty dance, the upper half is waving to the teacher to get their attention. 100gr for all the bears.

I bought 6 balls of red worsted yarn from Facebook Marketplace for more red scarves.

That's 1186gr of new yarn that I don't think I'm going to get knit this fall, but I'll be ready to go for next year. I was rooting through my bins and found a few balls of red Astra I had bought when I was making custom Christmas stockings. It's been awhile. Do I dare use it for scarves?

I've also been sewing but I'll save that for another day.  I've been trying to blog this post for a month but Blogger, on this account, has not been working for inserting pictures on my laptop. I can use a different account, and post pictures in the blog I have on that account (Ontteachertracy if you're into music teaching). I was down in the basement doing my morning yoga and thought I'd give the desktop a try. So at least I can post this way. It feels so retro LOL. Stuck in the cold (Air conditioning) basement!

Oh, and I'm test crocheting something and needed to buy yarn for that but I'll save that for another post.

Yarn In:  1182gr
Yarn Out: 1005gr + 500gr = 1505gr
Balance: 323gr more OUT than in
Costs: $20

This is such a falsified total LOL. All those bears were from donated yarn which I didn't count in my Yarn In total LOL.

Red Scarves

 I had intended to knit as many red scarves for World AIDS Day as I could this year. I've contributed in the past, but then I think they weren't collecting during Covid, and then life moved on. I don't have a ton of red yarn, but I do have some, and I do have a giant cone of very fine red yarn.

This one is two different thick, textured yarns; one was a Bernat yarn, like Illusion, or Homespun. 134grams.

I did a brioche, so it's pretty thick and dense. Cozy.

This one is a generic red worsted weight acrylic, knit 4 rows, then 2 stockinette rows of the very thin yarn. Total, 83gr. 

One edge has kind of a pointy effect; the other edge is where the yarns were carried up and is straighter. 

I will be making some more. I think I have enough for a thickish one, maybe with random yarns, and who knows how many with the very thin yarn but I'll machine knit those.

Yarn In:  0gr
Yarn Out: 217gr
Balance: 217gr more OUT than in
Costs: $0