Thursday, October 18, 2012

Dark Side Scarves

Yes, I went and did it, I knit ruffle scarves as per the current trend.  And, they are adorable.  Maybe not quite my thing, but I think I need to make more, of different yarns, before I find "mine".
I did somethings different than the hand knit versions.  I had seen on a Facebook group for Ultimate Sweater Machine owners how some people were knitting a thinner yarn and adding the ruffle yarn on every 4th row.  Start by casting on around 20sts with the background yarn and knit two rows.  Then, using the non-thick edge of the ruffle yarn, hang loops on the needles.  Depending on the ruffle yarn, and how thick you want it, use about every 6th loop.  I started out with every other loop, but that was not ruffly enough.  Once you have those loops on, hold them down with one hand and knit slowly over them with the background yarn, and then knit 3 more rows with the background yarn.  With the brows/grey one, I was using a sock yarn (28sts/4") and felt that 5 or 6 rows was better spacing.

With the pink one, I used the thick edge of the ruffle yarn.  This was the first one I made, LOL.  On the Red Heart Sashay (the scarf on the right), the thick edge has a glitter strand, so I quickly realized I had made the first one wrong ("Starbella" yarn).  I also thought it seemed a little wide at the end, so I gradually decreased the width until I was getting low on yarn and then started increasing again.  This makes the scarf narrower where you wrap it around your neck.  For the right one, I also made the ends more dense with the ruffles, and less dense through the middle.

I like the idea of the background yarn; it'll make the scarf warmer for winter, and perhaps lessen the "growing" issue I've heard about these scarves.  It also allows me to vary how wide the scarf is as I go along, as well as how thick the ruffles are.  And it uses up some small bits of other yarns!

Pink one:  133gr; beige/grey one:  113gr.  The ruffle yarn is 100gr in each case.  The pink one is quite a bit longer (and less dense) than the brown one.

These scarves are posted for sale in my shop!

Yarn In:  17 741gr
Yarn Out:  246gr + 13 501gr = 13 747gr
Balance:  3994gr more brought IN than used
Costs:   $420.20 /298days = $1.41/day

2 comments:

Jasmine said...

If you are interested in hand knitted and crocheted creations Jass Design is the blog you should visit. Jass Design is a blog packed with ideas, yarns and inspiration. Welcome.

TracyKM said...

I wouldn't normally post a comment with an unsolicited link to a personal blog like this....I don't go on other people's blogs and just say "Hey, visit mine". However, I did go to her blog and see that English is not her primary language, so I will give her the benefit of the doubt. At least it's not a link to Viagra and Vicodins :)