Tuesday, June 8, 2010

June meeting

The Scarf-a-Palooza program turned out extremely well! Who knew there were so many interesting things to do with a scarf? Marian plans to put together a file of the free patterns.

Some of the highlights:
Jan S. showed off her design for a Contemporary Ascot Scarf. She also showed a hurdle stitch scarf and coordinating hat. Jan is the prophet of Hurdle Stitch, always glad to show off its excellent qualities!

Margaret H. showed off many scarves, including a couple unusual ones from Knitting New Scarves by Lynne Barr. Congratulations to Margaret for completing the Drifting Pleats Scarf, which is a very interesting knit! Margaret also showed a scarf with knit-as-you-go fringe, so that you don't have to cut strands and all on at the end.

Ro C. provided probably the most informative presentation of the evening. Ro showed a couple scarves that used intentional pooling to very good effect. She drew out several very nice poster-sized diagrams that explained how to tell if a skein will pool. And she talked about getting a skein to pool the way you want. We may see if Ro would be willing to teach a workshop on this technique. Her beautiful scarves made you want to try this technique right away! (To see her projects, follow this Ravelry link. She is RoInGa.)

Pam C. showed off a Cat Bordhi mobius scarf. Pam had even added an i-cord edging and grafted the beginning and end together for a truly seamless look. Pam was working on another mobius that used two skeins of yarn, one knit clockwise and one knit counterclockwise.

Linda F. had at least four cute shoulder wraps for summer. These are made by casting on about 30 or 40 stitches, and increasing at the end of every row so that the shape gets wide very quickly. Linda had even added some crocheted eyelash-yarn borders. These are very cute and quite appropriate to Atlanta weather.

Nancy B. had worked some patterns out of Knitted Scarves, Stoles, and Shawls by Nancy Wiseman. One of these started with a provisional cast-on in the center, and was then worked outward so that when worn, the leaves in the lace pattern are all falling down. The center area even had an interesting pattern of its own!

Lois M. hailed the benefits of the skinny scarf. She had a cute one made from Crystal Palace Squiggle. These could be as narrow as i-cord. They also can be used to make jewelry, and can be combined with beads or even a left-over earring.

Betty B. showed a scarf made from a Classic Elite ball band pattern. Sometimes it pays to look at those free with the yarn patterns!

Claire G. displayed several of her knitting in the car scarf patterns. She does these because afghans are too big for in the car, but she wants something that isn't too complicated so she doesn't lapse in her job as navigator. As with many of the other presentations, it is very interesting to see the same pattern worked in different yarns. Sometimes it almost looks like the projects are unrelated!


My camera battery died so I only got one shot of show and tell. Debra D. completed the Fallen Leaf Frilled Triangular Scarflette. Stunning! (Follow this Ravelry link to see more pictures.) Other projects included two beautiful striped blankets that Linda W. made as baby gifts for a friend who has suffered several miscarriages but is finally having good luck. And Elizabeth C. had a not-quite-finished double-knit baby blanket with cute animal motifs. (Ravelry link.) Truly an heirloom!

2 comments:

Melissa said...

Really enjoyed the program! It was great to see all the unique ways to transform the simple scarf.

Woofgangpug said...

Great job, everyone! Thanks for inspiring us.