Thyroid Cancer (Ribbon Scarf)

First, please forgive my lack of post the lately! I seemed to get one sickness after another last month and then we had our yearly trip to New York. While I'm sure you're thinking I'm a spoiled woman, having a yearly trip to New York, it's not all fun and games. You see, I have thyroid cancer and so my yearly trip is for my cancer check up.

While thyroid cancer is generally considered the "good" cancer. I am here to say that NO cancer is GOOD cancer! And while thyroid cancer is generally easy to treat, mine is not. However, thanks to God (first and always), faith, prayer, and fabulous doctors my cancer numbers are staying low!

This year marks five years with my fabulous doctors in NY and so to celebrate I knit my doc a thyroid cancer ribbon scarf and I have enough yarn leftover to knit one for myself too!

Blue, Teal, and Pink... the thyroid cancer ribbon colors.

Progress

My Doc sporting his awesome and unique scarf!
Suffering with a little pink for the cause and his profession!

Thank you God for low cancer numbers and for Dr T!

Happy Crafting!

Welted Scarf: Scarves for Christmas

Here is another unique scarf in my Scarves for Christmas collection. I found this pattern on Pinterest of course! I picked this yarn for B long before I chose a pattern. I kept debating between a few patterns until I found this one and I knew it was perfect (hopefully!).

It took a bit of internet research to clarify how to do the welts but once I got the hang of it, it's simple! I live this because it's not a set pattern and each welted scarf you make will look different! 

How to make a welt:

The scarf is knit in stockinette stitch with the welts being made on the purl side. 

To begin knit a few rows in stockinette stitch (the pattern suggests 5 rows). On the purl side 

pick up a purl stitch with your right needle and transfer it to your left needle. Now knit both the transfered stitch and regular stitch together. Continue this to make your welt. For this first welt do it across the entire row (the same for your ending row to make it uniform).

It is recommended to make your welt at least 6 stitches wide otherwise it looks odd. After my first welt I changed how mant rows I used to welt together (changing from 5 to 3-4). I didn't like the way the large welt looked.

To make the scarf more interesting I varied where I placed the wekts, how long they were, as well as how wide. Some started out wider and got smaller; giving it a horizontal look. Some rows started and ended with welts. 

All in all I love the way it turned out!  I haven't knit a scarf yet I haven't liked... probably because if I didn't like it to begin with I would take it out and start again!

Now that you know the basics of welting go out and knit welts!

Happy Crafting!

The pattern can be found here.

Basket Weave Scarf: Scarves for Christmas

This scarf was a bit hard to find a pattern for. I have a strict rule (so far) that I won't pay for a knitting pattern. I will keep searching the internet until I find one similar or a different one that I like that's free. I had found a scarf pattern similar to this but it was $10 for the pattern. So I started on a hunt for a pattern for N's scarf. I remembered a baby blanket pattern that I had pinned previously on pinterest. It is a basket weave pattern blanket that I adapted into a scarf. I LOVE the way it turned out. I keep telling my husband with each scarf I knit how much I love the scarf and I hope that those that receive the scarf will love it even a quarter as much as I do!

The scarf has a border of seed stitch (six rows on the bottom with three stitches on each side). The basket weave is done in increments of six and I did the scarf twenty four stitches across (so it is still divisible by six and works with the pattern). The seed stitch border is shown below in bold.

K P K  P K P K P K P K P K P K P K P K P K  P K P

P K P  K P K P K P K P K P K P K P K P K P  K P K 

K P K  P K P K P K P K P K P K P K P K P K  P K P

P K P  K K K K K K P P P P P P K K K K K K  K P K

K P K  K K K K K K P P P P P P K K K K K K  P K P

P K P  K K K K K K P P P P P P K K K K K K  K P K

K P K  K K K K K K P P P P P P K K K K K K  P K P

P K P  K K K K K K P P P P P P K K K K K K  K P K 

K P K  K K K K K K P P P P P P K K K K K K  P K P

P K P  P P P P P P K K K K K K P P P P P P  K P K

K P K  P P P P P P K K K K K K P P P P P P  P K P

P K P  P P P P P P K K K K K K P P P P P P  K P K

K P K  P P P P P P K K K K K K P P P P P P  P K P

P K P  P P P P P P K K K K K K P P P P P P  K P K 

K P K  P P P P P P K K K K K K P P P P P P  P K P

P K P  K K K K K K P P P P P P K K K K K K  K P K

K P K  K K K K K K P P P P P P K K K K K K  P K P

P K P  K K K K K K P P P P P P K K K K K K  K P K

K P K  K K K K K K P P P P P P K K K K K K  P K P

P K P  K K K K K K P P P P P P K K K K K K  K P K 

K P K  K K K K K K P P P P P P K K K K K K  P K P 

(Follow this pattern until your desired length. Finishing with the seed stitch border.)

P K P  K P K P K P K P K P K P K P K P K P  K P K 

K P K  P K P K P K P K P K P K P K P K P K  P K P

P K P  K P K P K P K P K P K P K P K P K P  K P K 

I have come to the conclusion that I love multi-color yarn and the pattern that it creates within the pattern!

A close up: basket weave is alternating blocks of knits and purls.

I loved the look of this scarf so much that it is the background for my CraftyRDH Facebook page. I would greatly appreciate it if you all would follow my blog and like my Facebook page.
Happy Crafting!

Stockinette Stitch with Picot Hem: Scarves for Christmas

This scarf is simple yet complex. It's done in stockinette stitch... simple enough right? What about two stranded yarn? A little bit more difficult but the end result is gorgeous and I love the two toned effect. The scarf consists of three different shades of pink. The magenta pink is done through out the entire scarf with the second colors being half rose pink and half light pink.  The Picot hem is done in two stranded magenta. Then end result is a beautiful, thick scarf for little A. I try to make each scarf unique to each person as much as I can. She has a unique condition where she can't feel hot or cold so I made her scarf extra thick to ensure she stays warm.

The scarf before the picot hem.

Picot hem: trying to make the scarf as girly as possible!

The finished product!

Happy Crafting!

Ribbed Scarf with Fringe: Scarves For Christmas

This next scarf is simple yet fun! I love the way multicolored yarn can make a knitting project look so unique! Rib stitch is fairly simple to do, there is just a ton of yarn movement. 

You start out in a knit, purl pattern (an even number of stitches works best for this). The key is to make sure you continue the pattern properly. I tend to be a perfectionist and ripped out many rows on this scarf because I goofed on one stitch that threw off EVERYTHING!

The scarf didn't quite look complete to me so I decided to add fringe.
Plus knowing the person I made it for I believe she'll love it!

Fringe is a new adventure for me, never having done it before.
The most important part to me was making sure the fringe is all the same size.

In order to do this I decided to use a glass coaster we have to measure
and cut my yarn.

To make the fringe a decent length I only cut at one end.

I took three strands of the cut yarn in my yarn needle,
 pulled the yarn half way through, and tied a knot using all six strands.

The best part about the rib stitch is that it lays flat on it's own and doesn't need a border!

Happy Crafting!

Triangle Scarf: Scarves For Christmas

Let me start off by saying that someone out there may have already come up with this pattern. I was looking for something simple but cool for my 8 year old niece L.G. 

What I decided to do was basically a stockinette stitch but with a twist. I started my first row with a purl stitch, alternating my one stitch each row to form a zigzag pattern for my triangles. Below is the pattern I used. Just keep rotating through the first and second triangle. I also alternated shade of pink for the scarf.

First Triangle:

P K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K

K P K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K

K K P K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K

K K K P K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K

K K K K P K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K

K K K K K P K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K

K K K K K K P K K K K K K K K K K K K K K

K K K K K K K P K K K K K K K K K K K K K

K K K K K K K K P K K K K K K K K K K K K

K K K K K K K K K P K K K K K K K K K K K 

K K K K K K K K K K P K K K K K K K K K K

K K K K K K K K K K K P K K K K K K K K K

K K K K K K K K K K K K P K K K K K K K K

K K K K K K K K K K K K K P K K K K K K K

K K K K K K K K K K K K K K P K K K K K K 

K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K P K K K K K

K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K P K K K K

K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K P K K K

K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K P K K

K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K P K

K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K P

Second Triangle:

K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K P K

K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K P K K

K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K P K K K

K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K P K K K K

K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K P K K K K K

K K K K K K K K K K K K K K P K K K K K K

K K K K K K K K K K K K K P K K K K K K K

K K K K K K K K K K K K P K K K K K K K K

K K K K K K K K K K K P K K K K K K K K K

K K K K K K K K K K P K K K K K K K K K K

K K K K K K K K K P K K K K K K K K K K K

K K K K K K K K P K K K K K K K K K K K K

K K K K K K K P K K K K K K K K K K K K K

K K K K K K P K K K K K K K K K K K K K K

K K K K K P K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K

K K K K P K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K

K K K P K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K

K K P K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K

K P K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K

P K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K

 I found a knit trim on pinterest  (because who doesn't need fun ends on a scarf?!) from Lions Brand of triangles that I thought would go perfectly.

Put a slip knot on needle.

1st row (RS) Kfb. 2 sts.

Kfb = Knit Front and Back

2nd row Kfb, k 1. 3 sts.

3rd row Kfb, k 2. 4 sts.

4th row Kfb, k 3. 5 sts.

Continue to increase one st at the beginning of every row until there are 7 sts. Break the yarn and leave sts on a spare needle. Make the required number of points without breaking the yarn after the last one. Next row K 7 sts of last point, with RS facing k each set of 7sts in turn. 

Work 2 rows garter stitch. Bind off. I added one extra stitch in the middle to make a total of 15 stitches because my scarf is 15 stitches wide.

With knitting in stockinette stitch the edges curl unless you do a border in a different stitch.
You can also steam the knit item and let it dry flat.

Once dry all that's left is to attach the knit trim to the ends of the scarf.
I used the yarn tail that was left to attach the knit trim triangles.

One more scarf done and many more to go :)

A close up view.

Happy Crafting!

Herringbone Stitch: Scarves For Christmas

This year for Christmas I'm going to make scarves for my neices and nephews for Christmas. They'll come in handy when it starts snowing!  Plus a scarf is more one size fits all so I won't have to be guessing what size everyone is wearing and what they're in to.

I'm taking this opportunity to try out new knit stitches that I've been wanting to knit. The herringbone stitch has been on the top of my list. You can find the instructions I used here.

I love way this stitch looks on both sides! For a border on the ends of the scarf instead of knitting two from behind and slipping one I did it from the front. \When I asked L what her favorite color is (to base the scarf on) she said neon green. I chose yarn that had neon green as well as other colors to make it more versatile. I hope L will love this scarf as much as I do!

Right Side

Wrong Side

Border

Finished Soda Fountain Scarf

So I finally finished this scarf that I started a few months ago! You can find the pattern link in my original post, which you can find here. I know I won't be using this beautiful scarf any time soon but I'm glad it's done! My plan was to finish this scarf in time for my trip to New York for my yearly cancer checkup but I didn't finish it in time. The good thing was that the knitting kept my hands and mind busy so I didn't worry as much about the checkup!

Time to move onto my next knitting project. 

 Happy crafting!

Update June 2014: I used this scarf last Christmas and received many complements. Everyone wanted to know where I bought my beautiful scarf. I was proud to say that I made it myself!

Soda Fountain Scarf

And so my next knitting project begins... I'm not letting a little thing like knotted yarn stop me from making this beautiful scarf! I know many people will ask why don't you just pull the yarn from the middle and start knitting? My answer is that I've had too many knitting projects put to a halt and complicated by multiple knots. It's a lot easier to try and undo those knots when it's just in the yarn stage and not the I've knit half my project and how the heck do I get this massive, tangled knot out?! (In a precious knitting project it was so bad that I actually cut the knot out and used the Russian join technique to put the yarn back together.)

This will be the first scarf that I've made for myself.... while I own many scarfs all of them someone else made for me. While I love multicolored yarn (especially the yarn pictured in the pattern found here), this soft, beautiful green yarn screamed to me that this was the pattern to knit with it. Green is my favorite color so what better color to use when knitting myself something?!

I'm itching to cast on and get knitting! Stay tuned for the finished product!

My mess of yarn before it comes a huge ball to knit with!

Happy Crafting!

Loom Knitting - Scarf

My mother decided that she wanted to knit my aunt a scarf for Christmas. There is one big problem with this.... she doesn't know how to knit! So of course I'm doing it for her. I have knitted before but I'm still at a beginner/easy level. I can do the knit stitch but have issues with the purl on the knitting needles. A scarf is pretty straight forward since you aren't increasing or decreasing stitches. I have decided to do a knit row purl row for the scarf.

Here is the scarf so far. The pros and cons of knitting on a loom... 
Pros: It's knitted on both sides (looks the same on both sides=no wrong side). I also find it easier to do the purl stitch on the loom. If you forget a stitch you can go back and do it and it is easier to pick up a dropped stitch.
Cons: I find it more time consuming doing it this way. It would probably be easier if you were doing just a knit stitch or just a purl stitch instead of switching back and forth.I forgot to take a picture of  when I began. Sorry! First you tie a knot on the starter peg (you have a better view of it in the next picture). How I chose to start it was by doing a figure 8 with the yarn on two parallel pegs then you do the figure 8 again around the same two pegs. Place your crochet hook into the bottom loop lifting it over the top loop and place it on the other side of the peg. Do the same thing to the opposite peg. Keep doing this for all parallel sets of pegs until you have reached your desired length.

After you have finished casting on, take the working yarn
and wrap it around the pegs in a zig zag pattern going diagonally.

After you have finished wrapping the working yarn one way,
wrap it around the  parallel peg and continue wrapping  zig zag around the remaining pegs.

First I will show you the knit stitch.
When wrapping the working yarn around the pegs it goes on the top.
It is similar to how we cast on.
Take the crochet hook in the bottom loop...

and pull it up and over the peg and the wrapped yarn.

Now for the trickier part... the purl stitch on the loom.  Wrap the working yarn below  your previous work.  Place the crochet hook inside your last stitch and hook it around the wrapped working yarn. Pull the working yarn through the middle and pull both stitches off the peg keeping the crochet hook with the working yarn loop. Place the new loop back on the peg.

Also when you're loom knitting if you can't remember what stitch you did last... with the knit stitch the yarn is on top and with the purl stitch the yarn is on the bottom. I know that might seem silly to some to point out but  just a reminder :)

Here is the website that I used to understand how to loom knit.

Happy Crafting!