Justin's Mini Herringbone Scarf

Two Christmases ago, I intended to give my fiancé the fanciest scarf I had ever made: Purl Soho's Men's Mini Herringbone Scarf using Pro Lana Baby Alpaca Yarn in green, his favorite color.  This was the first time I had tried the herringbone stitch, and it ended up being a little too fancy for the time I had allotted myself, and just like that, the Christmas present turned into a Valentine's Day present. 

Now that Valentine's day is coming up again, I took a moment to photograph it, because it really is quite the scarf.

Herringbone stitch is the craziest thing.  You're using larger needles than the yarn calls for, so it seems like the knitting should go quickly, but that isn't the case at all.  Every stitch gets worked twice, and all the crisscrossing makes a shockingly tight, double-thick finished product that is as warm as it is beautiful.

It was totally worth the work.

Color Blocked Infinity Scarf

I haven't been blogging a whole lot lately, but I've been knitting like crazy.

I just keep thinking of more and more knitted accessories I'd love to bring with me to Europe this winter.  Normal things like hats and scarves, but also wintertime skating-related things like a million different legwarmers.

I've got one pair of legwarmers on my needles at the moment, as well as my Antrorse sweater for the Very Shannon Summer Sweater Knit Along, a headband for a birthday present, and I just bound off this color blocked infinity scarf yesterday.

I've never had so many knitting projects going all at once before, and I'll be the first to admit that it's getting out of hand.  But I'm just so excited that fall is finally here!

This particular scarf was a really quick knit on giant needles with thick and cuddly yarn from my stash.  I didn't use a pattern; I just made it up as I went along.

Knitting for a European Winter Part 2: Fun Pink Scarf

Hello from Amsterdam!

I'm very excited to blog about this pink scarf that I made for myself because I am very excited about the scarf.  I've been wearing it everywhere, and not just because it's cold outside.  This scarf is so fun and cutesy and soft and warm and I made it for myself all by myself.

I found the free pattern at The Tricksy Knitter which is a super cute and informative website that I just happened to stumble across on google.

Things you will need:

• Two or three balls of bulky yarn


• Size 8 (5.0mm) knitting needles


• Scissors


• Needle for weaving in the ends

Directions:

• Get them right here from The Tricksy Knitter herself.

Here are four fun ways to wear this fancy-dancy scarf when you're walking across European bridges :



In addition to being pretty, the stripes of garter stitch help keep the scarf from rolling too much, which is what happens when you make a whole scarf out of stockinette stitch (like the one that I made for my boyfriend a few posts back).

I hope you're staying warm wherever you are out there in the world.

Tot ziens!
xoxo
Laura

Knitting for a European Winter Part 1: Manly Scarf

I don't think I've mentioned it, but this blog has officially gone on tour!  Right now we are in Utrecht, The Netherlands and while I like it here, it is also cold and foggy, which makes it perfect scarf weather.  I decided to make a simple striped scarf with fringe on the ends for my boyfriend. I let him pick out his colors and he picked white, green, and a greyish yarn that changes colors. Because he liked three colors, I ended up making white and green stripes with the color-changing grey yarn throughout the whole thing, which added a randomized pattern for a unique look.

I didn't use a pattern to make this scarf, I just knew I wanted big chunky stripes in stockinette stitch with a garter stitch edging, so I did the following:

1. Use size 8 needles.  Hold the white yarn and the grey yarn at the same time, cast on enough stitches to make the scarf 10 inches wide.


2. Knit the first row.


3. On the second row, knit the first 3 stitches, purl all the middle stitches, knit the last 3 stitches.


4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 until the scarf is 6 inches long.


5. Cut the white yarn, leaving at least 6 inches to weave in later, and start using the green yarn for the next row.  Never cut the grey yarn as it will be used throughout the entire scarf.


6. With the green and the grey yarns, repeat steps 2 and 3 again until you have 6 more inches of scarf.


7. Then cut the green yarn, leaving at least 6 inches to weave in later, and switch back to the white yarn.


8. Continue alternating the green and white yarn, making 6 inch stripes, until the scarf is 5 feet long.


9. Cast off.

10. Weave in all the loose ends where you switched colors.



Now it's time for the fringe:

1. Cut 6 inch strips of yarn.


2. Use a needle to pull the strips through a loop on the edge.


3. Make a slip knot.


4. Repeat steps 1 through 3 until there is fringe all along the edge.

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The final product looks like this:

Happy knitting!
xoxo
Laura