As the Wool Turns

Monday, March 02, 2009

Don't You Just Love the Sense of Accomplishment

with Finished Projects?!

I am finally having a moment to post some finished projects on my blog. One of the items on my "to do" list was to take a new picture of my very first knitted scarf and replace the horrible picture of myself wearing the scarf. The angle at which the photo was taken was such that it was one of the most unflattering pictures ever taken of me {LOL ~ Laugh Out Loud}! Here is my neighbor's pine tree sporting the very first scarf I knitted. {My neighbor has no idea I caught her tree wearing my scarf!} Some of you have been reading my blog since day one. For those who joined me later, I knitted this scarf with size 8 Addi Turbo needles.

Variegated color: Noro Silk Garden Lite

{45% Silk, 45% Kid Mohair and 10% Lamb's Wool}

Solid color: Noro Cash Iroha

{40% Silk, 30% Lamb's Wool, 20% Cashmere and 10%Nylon}

I crocheted the edging {with some help from a friend} to add an accent to the scarf and to keep it from rolling. Some friends could not believe I chose such nice yarn for my very first project. I knew I had to use yarn {and colors} I would enjoy knitting with or I would grow tired of it before I completed the project. I had to be "proud" of my choice to want to keep knitting thru the awkward beginning stages of learning something new. I have never regretted my choice.

Speaking of crocheting, back in the Summer while at a Knit-In at Gourmet Yarn Company in Oklahoma City, a fellow Raveler Sakae {Sorry the link will only work if you are a member of Ravelry.} was showing everyone her first crocheted project - Tea Scarf by Pixeldiva. Now if you read my first post, you know I used to think I never wanted to learn to knit. Well, I wanted to learn to crochet even less! haha!

At the Knit-In I was sitting across the room from Sakae, but she had my attention with her beautiful scarf! If I ever wanted to learn to crochet a scarf, this was the project for me. I waited a few months and then decided I definitely wanted to crochet a Tea Scarf. My reasoning is perfectly logical to me. If I learn more about crocheting then I will feel comfortable putting crochet edges around my knitted shawls and scarves. What better way to learn crochet than by making a scarf! Plus crocheting gave me another excuse to buy yarn... Did I say that out loud? I meant to say it gave me another venue for using my stash. {That's my story and I am sticking to it!}

I used approximately 1 1/3 skeins of Baby Alpaca D.K. Paint by Plymouth Yarn in Colorway 8817, Dye Lot 672.

I had fun learning to crochet the scarf.

I am considering making a cowl that involves quite a few stitches on the needles at one time. Not wanting to have to figure out how long of a tail to start with in Long Tail Cast On, I am contemplating the Cable Cast On Method. This method eliminates the worry of miscalculation.