Scarves, Shawls & Baby Blankets Advanced Beginner Skill Level Worsted Weight Yarn
LONG STORY SHORT
design by Amy E. Anderson Friends of mine have created The Steven Loevy Award, which is given for the most creative use of leftovers in the refrigerator" I'm sure Steven would approve of this design concept, which is ideal for using up leftover yar...even a ball that is smaller than an egg can be incorporated. By now, I'm sure most of you are familiar with the garter stitch scarves, knit lengthwise, where you attach a newyarn at the begining of each row (leaving a 6"-8" tail), knit across the row, then cut your yarn leaving a 6"-8" tail. The tails become the fringe. The simplest variation on this technique is to work 2 rows with each color (cut yarn every row). This creates a fabric where one side has interlocking colors and the other has discreet stripes of each color. After playing with this technique, Irealized that it had unique properties because each row could be worked with the right side OR the wrong side facing. Iexperimented with other stitches that might use this technique and found several that created interesting results. For each of these stitches, Ihave given instructions for making a scarf, a rectangular shawl, a baby blanket, and an afghan. I also experimented with adding some shaping to the pieces and have included directionsfor a triangularshawl. Important Note: Allof these instructions are written for worsted weight wool, however, they canbe easily adapted for other weights. If you use cotonyou wilneed more than the suggested amouts of yanbecause cotton is heaver thanwool(peryardGauge is not criticalbecause one of these gaments has to fit preisely.Whenworking any method other than Back & Forth, you MuST use a circular needie!
Comments on Color:
If you don't trust your color sense, try turning off your brain and only paying attention to whether your eyes are happy. I usually begin by choosing 3 colors that are adjacent on the color wheel, such as green, blue, and purple. Then, I go to my stash and pull out all my odds and ends of those colors, including hand-paint yarns that incorporate one of my chosen colors. I pile all the yarns on my bed and ask myself if they look like a quilt. Another way to test a yarn grouping is to take a short strand of each yarn and twist them together. Or, if your kids have crayons, pullout all the ones that fit in your color grouping and hold the whole wad of them together.I recommend having a mix of dark and light yarns, for contrast. Don't worry about being too “matchy" - it's the odd balls that make it interesting. Another approach that I like is to select all of my scraps that are muddy - regardless of where they are on the color wheel. Last year,I heard the cartoonist/author, Lynda Barry, speak at a coffee house in Madison. She talked about how adults forget toPLA,and thatone of the essential things about LAY is that it isn't planed out inadvanceThisniting technique really opens the door to play-you canjump in and get going without worying toomuch about where you're headed. If you run out of one yarn, throw in something else. If you have some odds and ends of handpaint sock yarn, use a double strand to get worsted weight. Go with the flow; you'l find out i's not only fun, but achieves great results.
Finishing:
When you're done kniting, there wil be dozens of ends, and they dont have to be woven in! If you want something quick and easy, you can tie 3-4 of them together and cut fringe. Personally,Ilike the look of braids better. To work braids, tie 3 strands in an overhand knot, braid them as long as you like, tie another knot and snip a tassel approximatly $\%^{\ast}$ lIong
Comments on Techniques:
Because each row can be worked with Right Side or Wrong Side facing, I recommend that you put a safety pin in your work to denote the Right Side (even though some of these fabrics are reversible). Each of the designs uses one of the followingmethods:
Right-Side-Only Method
BAFFLED
FISH SCALES
GARTER CHEVRON
Abbreviations:
${\sf R S}=$ Right Side St(s) = stitch(es) gr = grams ${\sf W S}=$ Wrong Side $\mathsf{K}=\mathsf{K}\mathsf{n i t}$ Beg $=$ beginning Rep $=$ repeat $\mathsf{P}=\mathsf{P}\mathsf{u}\mathsf{r}|$ Circ $=$ circular F: ${}^{2}2\mathtt{s s o}=\mathtt{p a s s}$ 2 slipped sts over K2tog $=$ knit 2 together $\mathsf{Y f}=$ yarn forward Inc $=$ increase $\mathsf{S S K}=$ slip next 2 sts knitwise, insert left needle back through both sts and knit them together
