The Scarf, She is Finished!

So here are a couple of photos showing off the new scarf.  I think it is absolutely lovely, don't you?  The reason I am so excited about it is this is the first item I have knit from yarn I have spun myself. Let me share all the details, OK?

The yarn was spun from a Colonial roving (I originally thought it was a merino) which I purchased last October from Alpaca Direct in Brentwood.  This store just opened last year and has an amazing variety of yarns and rovings for spinning.  Anyway, the color is called Agate, and you can see more information about it here . If you follow that link and look at the roving, you will see that it is multi-color, not just "grey".  The blue swirl really adds to the finished product, and gives the yarn a very professional look.  The yarn was spun as a fine lace weight on my Cascade Mt. Shuksan drop spindle and knit on a size 5 bamboo needle.  4 ounces of roving resulted in enough  yarn to knit a 40" long  X 7" wide scarf.

The pattern was modified from a lace shawl pattern in order to get a narrower piece.  Here is the pattern, should you want to give it a try.  (Note, I am not a professional pattern writer, so I am writing this as I knit it.  If you are having troubles understanding or following the pattern, drop me an e-mail).

Pattern - a repeat of the following 2 rows:
Row 1 (right side): knit 4 stitches, knit 2 stitches together (3 times), knit 1 then yarn over (6 times), knit 2 stitches together (6 times), knit 1 then yarn over (6 times), knit 2 stitches together (6 times), knit 1 then yarn over (6 times), knit 2 stitches together (3 times), knit 4 stitches.  Turn.

Row 2 (wrong side) knit 4 stitches, purl to last 4 stitches (purl 54 stitches), knit 4 stitches. Turn.

To knit the scarf:

Cast on 62 stitches.

First edge (4 rows):
     Row 1: Work Row 1 of pattern
     Row 2: Knit  (62 stitches)
     Row 3: Work Row 1 of pattern
     Row 4 knit (62 stitches)

Body of scarf:
     Work Row 1 and Row 2 in pattern until scarf is desired length.  Leave enough yarn to knit last edge (4
     rows) plus bind off.

Last edge (4 rows):
     Row 1: Work Row 1 of pattern

     Row 2: Knit (62 stitches)
     Row 3: Work Row 1 of pattern
     Row 4 knit (62 stitches)

Bind off all stitches loosely, in knit stitch.

Please send me a photo if you decide to try this pattern,  I would love to put it up here on this blog and share your work with others.

So from start to finish, the scarf took almost 3 ADHD months.  It took far longer to spin the yarn than to knit up the scarf.  But it is finally complete and I love the fact that there was more to this than just knitting the yarn.  The next step in the process would be to dye my own roving, and that will happen with time.  Hmmmmm, I wonder how my husband would feel about sheep in the back yard.








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Attention Knitters - Have you seen THIS site?

I have found a website that I refer to whenever I have a knitting term that I do not understand. The beauty of this site is that it not only describes how to knit a particular stitch, but it also has videos that show you how to knit the stitch.  And wait - there's more!!!!  It shows you how to knit stitches in both the English and the Continental styles of knitting!  Now, to me, this is the best thing going out there.  My Grandmother taught me how to knit Continental style when I was 9, and all we got to was cast on, knit, purl and basic bind off before she passed away  There was still so much to learn, but no one to teach me.  And all of the knitters I knew only knit English style.  Let me tell you how exciting it was to be living in South Africa and have knitters there question what in the heck I was doing, since none of them knit Continental style.

So anyway, here is the site - knittinghelp.com .  Click on that link and it will take you directly to the glossary and the videos.

Going back to work on the lace scarf I am knitting from yarn that I spun.  If all goes well, I should be able to post the photo for you all in a few days.  Until then, stay safe and go well.