Potato Chip!

Okay, so I broke a promise that I made to myself.  That promise was that I wasn't allowed to start any new projects until I finished up some of the WIPs I had lingering around.  My first finished object of 2013 is the result of breaking that promise.  I rationalized breaking the promise because I really needed a Potato Chip scarf to have as a class sample AND they are fun & fast to make.  So, I don't feel too bad.

Snapshot of color

I knit mine using Kudo by Plymouth Yarn.  I used color 55 which I would describe as a blue-purple-red leaning rainbow.  The yarn is a 55% cotton, 50% rayon, & 5% silk blend.  I enjoyed working with this yarn for both the fiber content and the color.  I haven't knit something with such a variation in color in a long time so I had forgotten how much fun it is and how it can really pick up your mood.  I also happen to think that it makes a really lovely potato chip scarf with all the color changes.

I love this project for beginner knitters as it makes a scarf that looks harder than it actually is to knit.  Plus you are going knitting a small number of stitches at time, making it really dynamic and never boring.  Oh and I love that it only uses the knit stitch.  It just really shows off that with a little bit of knitting knowledge, you can make a complicated looking scarf.  I followed the pattern given here by Barbara Aguiar using size US 8 (5.0 mm) straight knitting needles.  You can find my project here: Kate's Potato Chip scarf.  The scarf currently resides at Park Avenue Yarns as a sample for the Knit 1 class.

I love this photo because it looks like the scarf is floating!

Lesson learned...the hard way

I have scarves coming out of my ears! I am on a full blown scarf kick.  It started with the Christmas scarves - the ruffled ones & the chunky one.  Okay, that is a lie.  It actually started with the Manitou Passage scarf that I just had to knit.  When I saw this scarf being knitted by a friend, I knew I had to knit it - to say I was captivated would be an understatement.  Obsessed might be a better word.  Okay, but, and I quote - "I hardly ever knit scarves", what is a girl to do?  Well, if you are this knitter then you commit to knitting the scarf via continental knitting because you remember you are trying to convert to continental knitting.  Phew, crisis averted.  

The only problem is that this scarf started an avalanche.  Why not knit more scarves? Oh and why not knit scarves for Christmas (see post here & here).  Well, I finished the Christmas scarves, but this one is still hanging on.  The Manitou Passage scarf was originally going to be a Christmas scarf until disaster struck.  I was happily knitting away on the scarf when I almost got until the end of the first skein of yarn and realized I hadn't bought enough yarn to properly finish the scarf.  I had two skeins of Manos del Uruguay Maxima and I really needed three.  No problem - I work at a knitting store, I will just pick up the third when I go in for knit night.  

Except when I went to knit night all ready to pick up the third skein what I found was an empty hook where the yarn should have been.  All the rest of the skeins were gone! Gone!  ARgh!!!  I did the only thing a knitter can do and that was to pout.  Silently.  Briefly.  Then let it go & ripped out the scarf and restarted from the beginning.  As other Raveler's have done, I modified the pattern to 12 stitch cables with 1 edge stitch per side.  I re-cast on for the scarf (12*3 + 2 = 38 stitches) and away I went.  I got lot of knitting done on this over Christmas and *hope* to have it done before the end of January.  

2012 Knitting Wrap-Up

I did a very similar post to this last year (you can find it here) and thought I'd do it again.

2012 completed projects:

• Ruffled scarves (x4)
• Wedge socks
• Classy Slip Up Socks
• Daybreak
• Thuja socks for Stephen
• Arm Warmers by Blue Sky Alpacas
• Cedar Shake Fingerless Gloves
• En Fuego Shawl (Yellow lace weight version)
• En Fuego Shawl (Black fingering weight version)
• Rodekool Scarf
• Amelie
• Baby Sophisticate
• Brushed Suri Loop Scarf/cowl (x2)
• Lancaster Scarf
• Multidirectional Scarf
• Summer Solstice Mystery KAL 2012 - shawl
• Gap-tastic Cowl
• Seedling hat
• Baby Beanie
• Belle Epoque (designed & knit)
• Merlyn (designed & knit)
• Silverbells Shawl (designed & knit)
• Pumpkin Spice Cowl (designed & knit)

Works in Progress

• Cirruncinus (design & knitting in progress)
• Brioche hat (design & knitting in progress)
• Neon shawl (design & knitting in progress)
• Gloves with fingers
• Manitou Passage Scarf
• Barely Sugar Cowl
• Rocky Coast Cardigan 
• *cough*Einstein coat*cough*

Not too shabby, if I do say so myself.  My designing kinda fell off at the end of the year (as did my blogging), but I have a couple of projects close to being done/ready to publish.  I was pretty bad at time management during the second half of 2012, so that is something I can work on & get better at this year.

2013!

These guys partied a little too hard last night:

Arthur!

Copernicus!