Granny Square Scarf For Dina

May 20, 2014 LeftFootDaisy7 Comments

You might have noticed I’ve gone a little crochet mad of late, I’m not even sure why to tell the truth. I am and always will be a knitter and it kind of feels like I’m having a bit of an affair really.

The crochet is quick, instant colour gratification and in my case, used mostly for items of frippery.

This scarf for Dina, my daughter (she shows up here quite regularly and is equally obsessed by woolly things – she’s been infected) came about when I was helping a customer to select colours for a crochet blanket project.

The aforementioned customer ended up choosing a more pastel combination I’d grouped together whilst I found myself fit to burst with the need to crochet these five up.

Casting the bookwork aside (any excuse) I set to work on a granny square, still not sure what it would end up being.

I made a couple more squares and it dawned on me that a summer scarf was the way to go.

First dilemma = How many squares?

It’s a summer scarf so it’s not really for warmth (hopefully). Originally I thought 15, but after trying it on several times I opted for 13. Each square is roughly 5″ x 5″ so the scarf is approximately 65″ long.

Using all these colours unfortunately equals a lot of ends to sew in and I even found myself taking it to bed on one occasion, refusing to go to sleep until they were all done.

Not too bad a job, even if I do say so myself.

Second dilemma = How to join the squares?

I could have sewn the squares together through the back loops only, mattress stitched them, over stitched them but instead I chose to crochet them together using double crochet.

This has created a beautiful ridge which defines each square and also ads a little weight to the front of the scarf. Hopefully it will also mean it sits the right way out when worn.

More ends to sew again, this time whilst waiting in the car for my youngest to come out after school. This time I refused to drive off until I’d finished. (my poor family)

I’m really happy with the finished scarf and it took very little yarn. Hopefully my beautiful daughter won’t mind me taking a pic or two of her wearing it for me to share here. In the meantime I’ve had to use a chair to drape it over.

What do you think?

Happy Knitting!

Crochet’s fine too though 😉

Have a Look at Wendy Duo

February 6, 2014 LeftFootDaisyLeave a comment

Last week in my post about Hatti the new knitting concept from Peter Pan, I mentioned that Wendy had an adult version which I was knitting up. The Yarn is available in 5 shades each with a co-ordinating pompom and is made up of 78% Acrylic, 12% Mohair &10% Polyester. Each 100g ball has approximately 200m/218yds of lightweight yarn and costs €9.95

There’s a pattern for the hat and a matching scarf on the reverse of the ball band the hat is lovely and can be worn as a slouchy hat or more like a beanie with a fold over band.

Having seen the scarf though I think it looked a bit mean, so I experimented a bit and decided a neck warmer made the best use of the yarn.

If you’ve bought a ball of Duo and you fancy knitting up the neck warmer here’s the instructions.

Be sure to make your hat first as per the instructions on the ball band, you’ll find it much easier to use a different yarn to sew up the hat and the neck warmer.

With the remaining yarn and 7mm needles cast on 52 stitches loosely and knit in 2×2 rib (Knit 2, Purl 2) until your work measures approximately 20″/50cm. Cast off stitches loosely and sew cast on edge to cast off edge using a different yarn. Sew in ends.

I used 8mm needles to cast on and cast off as it’s important to keep your stitches nice and loose for seaming.

Happy Knitting!

It’s A Little Nippy – Last Minute Knit

December 23, 2013 LeftFootDaisyLeave a comment

OK. So we’ve all seen the ‘super quick knit’ patterns that seem like a good idea until you realise that they’re actually referring to those amongst us that can break all kinds of speed knitting records.

I’m a steady knitter, neither fast nor slow and if we’re being extremely honest, I’m prone to distraction. However, this little neck warmer did actually take a little over an hour to knit up – PROMISE!

So what are you going to need?

I’ve used 10mm needles and 2 balls of Rico Fashion Elegance in shade 3. They’re 5ometres each so you need approx 100metres of super chunky yarn.

Cast on 20sts and knit every row in plain/garter stitch until work measures 56cms/22″. Cast off loosely

I slipped the first stitch of every row to keep my edges tidier but it’s not necessary.

Join by sewing your cast on and cast off edges together.

Ta ddah……..

Of course now my neck’s warm but I can’t see a blooming thing.

Much better.

I’m going to make a couple for my youngest to wear as he always forgets to put a scarf on and I’m sure my hubby whose a plumber and constantly working outside on dairy farm installations at the moment, might even fancy a couple.

In case your wondering it’s 20cm/8″ deep.

Happy Knitting!

Super Chunky Mistake Rib Cowl

January 31, 2013January 31, 2013 LeftFootDaisyLeave a comment

Having managed to persuade my usual model to pose for a picture, you can no doubt see how she feels about it.

Mistake rib is a great stitch pattern to use for scarves/cowls as it gives you a double sided fabric rather than one with a definite front and back (like stocking stitch). The easiest way to remember the pattern is to cast on an odd number of stitches, in this instance I used 17. With an odd number of stitches every row of your scarf will be the same.

We managed to wrap the cowl around Dina 3 times, but the friend it was made for is very tall and tends to wear it wrapped round her neck twice. if you want to make it wider and a little shorter cast on 2 extra stitches (the pattern remains the same).

Cowl Dimensions

Length 180cm/70″

Width 23cm/9″

Materials

5 Balls Sirdar Big Bamboo

10mm Needles

Darning Needle

Abbreviations

k – knit

p – purl

st(s) – stitch(es)

Pattern

Using thumb method cast on 17 stitches.

Work every row as follows – knit 2 stitches, purl 2 stitches repeat these 4 stitches to last st, K1

Work until almost all of your yarn has gone ensuring you save enough to cast off loosely (approximately 3 times the width of your knitting).

Sew cast on edge to cast off edge in order to make a large ring and sew in ends.

Tip – When joining in a new ball of yarn try to do this somewhere along the row rather than at the beginning of a row as usual. This will help to keep the edges of the cowl tidy and means your ends can be better hidden.