Knitted Cowl Tutorial - OPAM February 2013

If you have been following this blog  a while you will know that I like a bit of knitting but I am not that great.  I am easily lost in amongst any pattern and often need bailing out.  In my youth I had a snood, (remember those?) and I loved it so I decided that I would have go at making one. 

This is my version for the one above.  I will confess that since taking this picture I have changed the way that I have stitched to two ends together, but here goes:

Materials for My Cowl

Pair of UK size 10mm needles  (US 15)

1 Bag of Patons BIG 200g   (There is likely to be a bit left over)

Wool hand sewing needle

Tape measure

Finished width: Approx 23cm (9.5 inches)

Finished Length before stitching ends together:  Approx 102cm (40 inches)

Instructions to make my Knitted cowl.

1). Using 10mm needles cast on 24 stitches

2).Row 1: *yo, K2tog*  

You will need to make sure that you begin each row with yo, otherwise the pattern will not work and you will end up with an odd number of stitches.

I simply repeated this very short pattern until the desired length which in this case was 102cm (40 inches).

Finishing:

I then cast off the stitches in the usual way.

In the picture above I simply stitched to ends together.  However since then I have unpicked it and instead put a single twist in the cowl ( as used in a Mobius scarf) and then stitched up the ends using ladder stitch. 

Ladder stitch

I then wove the ends of the wool into the stitched seam.

You do not have to add the twist at all, it is up to you.

Left Over Wool

With the left over wool I visited Youtube and made up a simple 5 petal crochet flower using a tutorial by The Crochet Geek.  

I then attached a safety pin to the back as a brooch back was too small.  This will enable me to put the crochet flower where ever I want it to go.

I am now going to make another but a bit shorter and in a lighter colour.

It has been ages since I put any of my knitting ideas on my blog and I hope it works, I had to keep it easy for me to do let alone anyone else.

Anyway, have a go and I am now off to make a few more crochet flowers.

xx

Pom Pom Scarf

You may remember that our small knitting group wanted to have a go at making some pom poms and creating something out of them. Well, I made some pom poms, more than shown here, and then thought about how to string them together. Our last session before Christmas we had a go at putting our scarves together.
The above picture is being modelled by "Rose" and I think that I need to add some more. It shows up well on the black sparkly top. I used up some left over wool from making my Granny stripe blanket earlier in the year.

I will be honest, I think this scarf is more of a statement item rather than for keeping you warm. I think that my pom poms could have been a little bigger and not so dense, then they would have been easier to wear. Well we live and learn. You can wear it different ways and is eye-catching. We also had fun making them and it did the students good to have an idea and then actually make it. I have seen other versions of this on the Internet, not for a while mind you, and there are pom pom scarves in the shops at the moment too.

In the New Year we are going to tackle the knitted Cloche hat which is featured in the sidebar of this blog. I thought that I would make one for my Brother-in-laws wife as I have found my purple one to be very useful this past weeks. With that I need to revise how to crochet a flower to go on it too.
I have also started a new crochet project this week but I want to work on it a bit more before showing it here.
A bit warmer today but dreadful rain, gloomy and very misty!
xx

Scarf addiction

I have been at it again!

This yarn is similar to the Can Can yarn, but is called Flamenco wool. The photo is a bit bright, it is actually a deep wine colour, lovely!

The actual frill is not quite as wide as the CanCan wool.

I really love this colour and I am tempted to keep this one but I have some more wool to make another one, so this will be listed with a nicer picture. I am going to try again tomorrow but today it has been dull and raining, it is just not going quite my way with photos at the moment.

These scarves are very soft an flexible. What I also did was made a skinny scarf version with some wool which was left over which I have been wearing indoors, a bit like a necklace if you like. Has been commented on too. It just looks nice and a bit interesting without looking odd.

The weather has been very cold indeed, where I live the snow has been very localised and where I live has missed out completely, much to my daughter's disappointment!

I do now of at least someone who is not too bothered by the cold weather.....

........................as long as there is a regular meal and a nice warm place to sleep!

Keep warm

xx

White snuggly Can Can Scarf

I have had terrible problems getting decent pictures lately. These are taken outside at the weekend during the day and still they are a bit dull looking. Anyway, I hope you can still see them fairly well.

The above is a new scarf that i made for the last craft fair that I took part in. it is made using the new Can Can yarn and I really like it!! Google it for your nearest stockest.

This is an off white and it has a can can frilly look when it is finished. It is a lot of fun to make and I have another one waiting to be started.

I have put it on top of my black winter coat (which I bought with some birthday money last Christmas and it is the best coat I have ever bought!) to give you an idea of size etc. I also made the felt brooch that you can see as well.

My model ROSE looks quite comfy with this scarf on and it is surprisingly warm too.

Eventually I shall list this in my Etsy shop once I have been able to take a decent picture, in fact I have a bit of a backlog with this but you can not put rubbish pictures in an on-line shop! I am pushing it a bit putting them here but I like to try and post something every day or at least every other day.

I am making slow progress with making these..............

these. I decided to cancel my knitting group after school today due to the bad weather we have been having. it has been a bit unpredictable lately and I decided they would be better off getting home on time. So I have another week to add to this lot.

Best go got some work to look at before bed.

Thank you for visiting

xx

"Kelp" scarf - Version 2

Here is another version of my "Kelp" scarf which will be going into my Etsy shop this evening. It seems to get viewed more after 7pm UK time. (Update: now listed on Etsy)

Usually I only like making one or at the most two of anything like this, but I have found it quite addictive making these. since taking these pictures I have made a nice light weight cream scarf in some very soft wool. Goes with everything and still looks very summery too.

At the moment I am working on my secret project and I have got myself a little muddled with what to send where. I may have to send an email to just confirm, but I want to get the whole thing done by the end of the week as I go back to work next week and it will get very, very hectic with exams etc. So I shall come back to this project in the near future.

I have been a little busy trying to finish some projects off last week which I hope to show here over the next few days. My parents have been visiting and the lure of the sun has kept me away from the laptop, crafting and uploading pictures. Sorry, but we see it so rarely in this country and as for several days on the trot, well we are being really spoilt at the moment. So I think we are off the the garden centre and maybe the fair ground which has just arrived in town this week.

Take care

Back tomorrow

xx

Eye Candy Crochet Scarf......

This is post 406!! Blast I missed the 400th post birthday. Once I come back from visiting my sister-in-law I shall have a belated giveaway. However, until then how about my latest crochet make.

Sophie liked the jewelled scarf that I made.

So Friday evening a little voice says,

"Mummy I really like your scarf."

"Do you?"

"Yes.......do you have any more wool?"

"I have some why?"

"Any pink?"

"Hummmm yes I have."

"Oh,........how easy would it be to make me a scarf like yours, but smaller, pinker, with a white edging and fringing on the end?"

"I do not know, why, would you like me to make you one?"
(Pause)

"Yes pleaseeeeees Mummy"

Well, who could resist a request like that? So this is how I went about making Sophie's crochet scarf. I needed to make the proportions smaller than for my scarf so we decided to create just two rounds of pink for each square and then add a row of single crochet in white around each of the square.

I used a soft acrylic wool and some that I had left over from making the crochet baby blanket. I made a total of 18 squares, pale and bright pink wool was used. Made most of those Friday night then finished them off Saturday afternoon. I blocked the squares on a board over night. My squares still do not always look like they have been blocked. Not sure exactly why not, but there you go.

During Saturday afternoon I added a row of single crochet in white wool around each square. Then in the evening I stitched them all together and then Sophie tested the size for me. So far so good. Once Sophie had gone to bed I crocheted two rows of single crochet using white wool. I I then blocked it again over night. On Sunday I showed it to my little customer.

"Do you like it?"

"Oh yes Mummy it is lovely" (eagerly trying it on)

"Does it need anything else?"

"Hmmm, what about something on the ends?"

"OK, like what?"

"What about bits hanging down, you know like this scarf?" (dashes out to find the scarf that goes on her doll)

"Oh fringing on the ends?"

"Yes"

So I then began to find something that I could wrap the wool around to help me make the fringing all of the same length. To make the fringe blend in with the scarf I used three strands of wool, (one of each colour) wrapped it around my pin tin and then looped it through the holes created by the crochet edging.

I then trimmed the fringe to make sure that it was all the same length. A real Eye Candy Scarf which will be going to Brighton with us later in the week. This was fun to make and this is why I like my sewing, crafting etc, having the skills to be able to make something for my little girl that she has designed, enjoys wearing and is not mass produced. Draw backs? Sophie wants to learn how to crochet!! I think we shall tackle the knitting first!

xx