Sunday, January 22, 2012

Chunky Scarf Mania - Knitting and Crocheting

Scarf buying season is dwindling down but I'm just getting started on making them.  Thanks to Mom and her endless supply of knitting needles and crochet hooks, I am knitting and crocheting (I just learned and am so excited about it) up a storm!  It's a great hobby for a nursing mom and it beats playing games on my phone to pass the time :)

Here are some I've completed so far:

Crocheted Bi-color Cowl

Braided Neckwarmer

Tri-color Infinity Scarf

Slouchy Cowl

Buttoned Wrap Scarf

I've concluded that I'm better at crocheting than knitting.  All of my knitted items curl and it's been driving me crazy.  Reader M (thank you!) just introduced me to the concept of blocking so I'll definitely be giving that a try soon.

I'm now looking for different scarf variations to try - any ideas?

And Happy Lunar New Year to everyone!!  Any Dragons out there?  :)

51 comments:

  1. Gorgeous gorgeous!! and all this in such a short time! you are so creative!

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  2. Happy Lunar New Year to you, too! I am a Dragon! =)

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    1. Haha, that sounds so dumb - you have a birthday EVERY year. I meant happy dragon birthday this year!

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  3. they look so pretty! my favorite is the bicolor and the tricolor, actually... I like all of them in their own way! Happy New Year!

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  4. I <3 all of them! I love how intricate the tricolor one looks. I can't wait to see more. How's nursing going for you? I'm nursing as well. We should chat more about our babies and nursing!

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    1. Thank you! Yes, let's chat about babies and nursing - I'll email you! In short, nursing was difficult at first but I think we are now settled into a pretty good rhythm :)

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  5. Happy new year to you :) Love that braided scarf :) As for scarf variations -have you thought of putting tassels on the ends?

    katattack2000.wordpress.com

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    1. Thank you and happy new year to you too! Thanks also for the suggestion :)

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  6. These are all beautiful! I think you can add them on to your etsy shop :) I'm a monkey :)

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    1. Hello fellow monkey! :) Thank you for the encouragement, I think I might post a few on Etsy and see how they do.

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  7. Loving ALL of these scarves. You are so talented. <3 How about doing a super long chunky scarf? : )

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    1. Hi Jessy! Thanks so much for the kind words and suggestion!

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  8. I really love these scarves. You have such a talent!

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  9. Happy Lunar New Year to you! You're so talent. The details and the patterns on the scarves are gorgeous.

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    1. Thanks Ying! Hope you had a wonderful New Year with lots of yummy food!

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  10. Those are beautiful scarves! You make me want to expand my horizon and learn how to crochet. Definitely give blocking a try. I hope it relieves your frustration with knitting.

    My oldest (of three) son is a dragon. I can't believe it's been 12 years! Savor every moment...they grow up so fast. Happy new year!

    Melanie

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    1. Thank you Melanie! I took apart many scarf starts with crocheting but I think I finally got the hang of it. I found youtube videos to be very helpful. I originally purchased a book but the step by steps just confused me - nothing beats a video!

      Happy almost birthday to your son and happy new year to you too!

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  11. Happy New Year! How did you celebrate? I had dumplings and fish galore :)

    These scarves are all beautiful but the marigold one is my favorite. Its vibrant color is what does me in. Any chance these will hit Etsy in the near future?

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    1. Happy New Year to you too! We had oodles of noodles! Mom told us it was lucky so we had it for both lunch and dinner :)

      Thank you! The marigold was my first. I think I will put up some of these in my store - thanks for the encouragement!

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  12. Oooh these scarves are sooo pretty! I love the mustard one! Does the material used for crochet contain wool? Sorry I know NOTHING about fabrics! I may have to order one from you soon!

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    1. Thanks Elaine! The mustard one is wool blend so that won't work for you :( Acrylic yarn colors aren't as much fun but they have basic colors like navy, red, charcoal, cream, etc (like the braided scarf and bi-color cowl).

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  13. About your knitting curling- blocking might help with some of it, but the curling is usually a result of the type of stitches you're knitting, not how you're doing it, and blocking usually only helps somewhat. Stockinette stitch will curl like crazy and is often knitted with a border of garter stitch to help; other types of stitches curl at the edges too. I'd highly recommend joining ravelry.com - it's a free online community for knitters and crocheters that lets you keep track of your projects, share with others, and connect with others for help and feedback. It's a really great resource (and no, I'm not affiliated with them! :). Cute scarves, wish I could crochet as well as I knit!

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    1. Thanks for the recommendation! I tried adding some k-p-k-p rows as borders. It didn't curl at first, but as the scarf got longer it did. I'll definitely try out ravelry to get some advice :)

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  14. wow these are awesome!!! cant believe you made it, my favorite is the last one for sure! happy new year!

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    1. Thank you so much! Happy New Year to you too! :)

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  15. very beautiful. I can knit ok but can't crochet at all! I wanted to make some scarves during winter break but it was over too quickly ;(

    Hope you had a wonderful New Year! Nope, I'm a Dog.

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    1. Thank you! You're a busy woman though between kids, school, and work - can't blame ya for not finishing :)

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  16. i love that braided neck warmer! Very nice! I just finished my first scarf of the season...usually I'll knit one in just a few days, but this one was a long time in the making. I just stopped halfway through it and couldn't get back into it!

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    1. Thank you Betsy! That actually happened to me with the braided neck warmer! It was taking soooo long that I gave up for a few weeks and then just recently got back to it :)

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  17. Happy New Year! I love love love all of them but the 1st one is to die for...lol Gorgeous.

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    1. Happy New Year to you too! Thanks so much, Annie!

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  18. Wow, I love the chunky scarves! The braided neckwarmer is my favorite. Would you be willing to share your pattern?

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    1. Oh sure thing! I used twisted stockinette stitch the whole way through and made 3 skinny scarves. Then braided the scarves and connected them - easy peasy! The only thing though is that it curls like crazy so the braid helps mask that effect.

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  19. These scarves are really pretty and cozy. Lovely photos. Maybe we can follow each other?
    http://www.fashionmechic.com/
    Lovely photos. http://www.fashionmechic.com/

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  20. All the scarves look beautiful, but I love the Tri-color Scarf--it looks so unique! Do you know where I can find a pattern for that?

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    2. Thank you! For each row, I did twisted stockinette stitch using 3 strands together as one chunky strand. I think I casted on around 20ish for the width and length is probably around 30 inches. For the length, I just made sure I could double-wrap it around the mannequin neck twice with a good amount of drape. Hope this helps! It does curl though the weight of 3 strands helps a little.

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  21. You are so talented SPG! Love the cowl scarves!

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    1. Thanks Karen! I've been on a bit of a cowl mood lately :D

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  22. you're a dragon? i guess you're one year younger than me. :) i'm a rabbit. great year!

    you did such a lovely job! so talented you are. i have no idea how to knit. these are fantastic. maybe i'll take up knitting. lol... love the color choices.... maybe you can try making some with fringes or cable-style scarves?

    hope the babies are well, and have a fab wknd!

    xoxo
    jasmine

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    1. I'm actually a monkey - my daughter is a rabbit though! :) Thanks so much Jasmine! If you're looking for a hobby, I'd recommend crocheting. It seems easier to create different patterns with the knowledge of just a few stitches but then again I'm a beginner to both. I've just taken to crochet a little faster.

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  23. I'm so behind on commenting, but Happy New Year, SPG! I love the first and third scarves -- so unique! I think it's time to change your name to include knitting? ;)

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  24. Thanks Cee - you're so sweet! Can you imagine if I changed it to SewCrochetingPetiteGal? :D

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  25. I CANNOT believe you are *only* a beginner here! You just have a knack for these types of things! I would cry tears of joy if I could make such cute scarves/neckwarmers! :P Lemme figure out sewing first, then crocheting! >_<

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I'm the type of gal who gets giddy when I receive mail - it's no different with comments! I really appreciate the feedback and love hearing from you :)

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