Another UFO zapped!

I'm happy to report that I FINALLY got the Granny Square Pillows done!  The details are out on my Ravelry page:

http://ravel.me/PBELKNAP/mmgpcn2

I feel so much better, now that I have turned another UFO into a FO!  I feel like I've accomplished something wonderful!  They came out beautifully.  

However, I now have a TON of leftover yarn that I need to figure out a use for.   As I've said before, women around me seem to breed at an alarming rate, so I'm sure I can use the leftovers for some tiny sweaters or a baby blanket.

In the meantime, I have (of course) started another project...

Procrastination...

So, I'm FINALLY getting around to blogging again.




I haven't been blogging for two reasons:



a) I've been working on a stealth knitting project that I couldn't publicly write about, so as a result, I got sort of blocked when it came to writing about anything else.

b) I’ve been putting off finishing the pillows for my Granny Square Afghan and Pillows project, which I’ve been feeling massively guilty about; so again, I wasn’t inspired to write anything else.



Lame excuses, I know!



I finished my stealth project (I still can’t write about it or post pictures), which is a relief. I’m also plugging along now with the Granny Square pillows. I was stuck on the bolster pillow—I couldn’t get the correct size, but decided the only possible way out of my predicament with the pattern was to just change it up a bit and add another column of granny squares. So far, it’s looking good! I’m hoping to be done soon and post some pictures. Actually, this project is sort of stealth, too, as this set is going to a friend for Christmas.



It’s amazing how we tend to put things off that we think are going to be a chore, horrible, or just plain impossible; and then they turn out to be nothing at all! Here I was letting a little mismatched bolster pillow jettison my blogging schedule.

New Class Schedule for Creative Fibers in Windsor, CT!!!

For those of you knitters and crocheters in CT, Creative Fibers just put out their Summer Newsletter and Class Schedule!

In particular, they have a Tunisian class this time around, and they are going to make baby blanket squares! I'm tempted to try that one, as I haven't really done much with Tunisian Crochet at all.

Just go to their site and click on "Newsletter" and "Class Schedule."

http://www.creativefibersonline.com/

Knitting is useful for…

In addition to being relaxing, therapeutic—and just plain fun—I find that there are ENDLESS uses for yarn craft…and I don’t mean the final product.


1) You have something to do, look down at, and escape into when a scary, gory, or just plain gross scene appears in a movie or TV show. This happens to me all the time with “CSI” and “Bones.”


2) Ditto for those times you are crafting in at a public meeting that is getting entirely too controversial and heated.


3) You know that book by Susan Cain entitled Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking? Yeah, that’s me. I find knitting in public is a great ice-breaker when I have no idea what to say to people in any new situation. It is amazing how many knitters and crocheters I’ve met at the doctor’s office.


4) In this same vein, if you want to be highly entertained by some of the craziest comments people can make about our craft, KIP can’t be beat. For some reason, around here, the allergist’s office is the place to be to experience truly deranged assumptions about knitting (like the lady who insisted I was “doing it wrong” when she saw me knitting a sleeve in the round versus flat). I personally think it’s because my allergist keeps people waiting entirely too long; and people just start going loopy after a while, especially if little Jimmy is attempting to take out a pamphlet display with his toy airplane.


5) Knitting or crocheting a complicated pattern is the best way I know to alleviate boredom. Also, the boost in your self-esteem can’t be beat, once you master it.


6) I hate to say it, but our craft is a very quick way to ascertain who is and isn’t supportive of you. I mean, really, it’s not like you’ve taken up something dangerous, sinful, or evil…you’re just knitting a sock, for heaven’s sake (I think people get frightened by the DPNs).


7) Going to Stitch ‘n’ B**** groups is a great way to meet new people, whom you may not have met any other way. As many have figured out from my Twitter posts, I’m decidedly left-wing. However, my perspective has broadened greatly from meeting many different people with different viewpoints…we all seem to be capable of listening to each other’s opinions, and we all happily bond over our communal love of yarn.


Now if the rest of the world could just work together in the same way…

2012 Bernat CAL Clue #3

Are you a pattern chart person or an instruction person?

I used to think I was more of a written pattern instruction person…I especially find charts confusing when I'm doing knitted cables.  For some oddball reason, I find written instructions (C4F, C4B, T3F, etc.) easier to comprehend. 

I think the opposite is true with crocheting, though.  For the 2012 Waverly for Bernat Mystery Afghan Crochet-Along, I've been printing out both the written pattern and the chart.  All I can say is, THANK GOD FOR THE CHART!!!  The past two clues have been extremely confusing, and I think I would have been sunk without the charts.  Clue #3, in particular, is beyond inexplicable, what with needing to chain 7 and then doubling back, and then going forward, chaining 7, doubling back--on and on around in a circle.  When I just read the pattern, I almost broke out into a spontaneous migraine.  When I checked the chart, it all became clear.

Go figure...

Post Script...I found it was easier to do all the motifs up to the part where you break the yarn FIRST.  That way, I got that weird "doubling-back" section out of the way!

Tall Cables Jacket complete!

I'm happy to report I've FINALLY finished my crocheted Tall Cables Jacket.  It's a pattern from Herrschners.  The cables were very easy to do.

You can find the pattern at Herrschner’s website:

http://www.herrschners.com/product.aspx?sku=911207&qid

The only thing that I had to do was to widen the button band and band on the other side a bit more than what the pattern specified.

Hectic Holidays

I find, every year, that this is a season of hustle and bustle—that has NOTHING to do with the usual holiday preparations people make.

Never mind the tree-trimming, wrapping, cooking, baking, etc. If you are a crafter of any kind, this is the time of year where stringent deadlines MUST be met. Knitted and crocheted items must be finished, washed, blocked, and, in some cases, shipped to other parts of the country. I have three things I’m frantically trying to complete for this year.

1) I have a baby blanket and baby sweater I made for a coworker that needs to be washed and dried. I have to find some sort of box for this, wrap it, and then find out if we are doing a shower for my coworker or if I should just give this to her.  If this is the case, I need to find out her maternity leave date—unless I want to ship the entire thing to India.

2) I have an afghan knitted in washable wool that I need to toss into the machine and PRAY that it is indeed as washable as the label claims. It’s enormous, so I have to figure out somewhere to dry it, too. Then I have to find a suitable box, bring it to the post office, and hope it’s not too much money to ship to my niece.

3) I’m also engaged in selfish crafting. I’m finishing up a crocheted jacket that I’m hoping to have ready for the holidays. I’m still struggling to get the collar and button band crocheted correctly. You can’t tell from the picture (the model has long hair that is obscuring the collar), but it appears I’m supposed to be making a shawl collar. The pattern is a little fuzzy on how to go about this, so I’m actually winging it.

Next year, I plan to start this process in JANUARY…

Seriously, I’m the authority???

I don’t know about the rest of you, but since I’ve started knitting and crocheting in public (KIP or CIP), I’ve discovered an odd thing. People start to think of you as the authority on your craft.

Now, I’m not even close to being the authority. While I love to knit and crochet and love a good challenge (my next plan is to learn Entrelac), I’m far from being an expert. I have one friend who’s capable of not only knitting two sleeves at the same time using two circular needles—she’s capable of doing this and carrying on a conversation at the same time! I have as of yet to figure out how to knit garter stitch and talk, let alone anything else. I have friends who have mastered the art of felting, lace, and still others who are complete experts at stranded knitting. I can do these things, too, but there is usually a liberal use of life-lines, swearing, and honestly, I’ve only ever felted by accident.

In spite of this, I find I constantly have people approach me about knitting, like I’m some sort of ambassador the Kingdom of Yarndom. I’ve had people come up to me at doctor’s offices, Starbucks, support groups, work—work is the funniest. One time, a manager burst into one of my work meetings, clutching a granny square afghan. She spread it out on the conference table, and asked, “Why is this CROOKED?” Just recently, one of my coworkers asked if it would be possible for me to teach her how to knit. Right now, I have her checking the needles she bought for size, so that I can bring in suitable yarn for her. One person came up to me yesterday, wanting to know how to sew knitted sweater pieces together.

In some cases, it doesn’t even matter if they’ve seen me KIP—sometimes, the people are complete strangers who just happen to have heard about me through a coworker or friend.

Now, if I could just figure out how to make money from this…

Knitting, Crocheting, and “Snowpocalypse”

Last Saturday, we in New England were all hit by Storm “Alfred.” What started out as a freak snowstorm, where we thought the worst would happen was that we’d have to shovel our way out of 8” of snow, quickly turned into a nightmare. Due to heavy snow on limbs still covered with leaves, several of our trees came down; along with enormous pine branches (we have 100-foot pine trees on our property). The entire night you could hear popping and cracking up in the trees as more and more debris rained down onto the house. About two hours into the storm, we lost our power—which means we lost our electricity, our heat, and our running water.

The next morning we ventured outside and found that our two beautiful trees in the front yard were decimated to the point where there’s hardly anything left but the trunks. The ENTIRE front yard was filled with debris. Dogwood trees came down in the backyard, and again, the entire area was covered with branches and limbs. The roof was covered, to the point where I couldn’t tell the people at CL&P whether or not our electrical wires were still attached to the house. It was the sort of fall-out that we couldn’t possibly clear out ourselves, but would need professionals ($$$).

Despite all this, we count ourselves lucky in that a) we were unhurt, and b) the house and cars were fine. We STILL don’t have power, but there is a shelter in town where we can get warm, charge up things, get coffee, etc. The seniors in town are bunking there overnight.

An odd thing happened…I didn’t want to knit or crochet. I’m not sure why this is. It might be because I usually do my yarn work with others, and that was impossible, as NO ONE had power, and certainly not the usual hangouts at which we congregate. My other favorite thing is to knit or crochet in front of the TV (out of the question), or listening to a podcast (I couldn’t waste the battery power on my Blackberry listening to podcasts). Also, everything I’m working on, except for the socks, is sort of complicated, which means I can’t work under low light, and I didn’t feel like doing the socks—too boring.

Also, I think I was (and still am) in a state of shock. At most, in the past, we’ve lost power for a day or two—not SEVEN, and we’ve never had the house and yard in the kind of shape they’re in.

I’m hoping to get back to normal yarn work next week, when (hopefully) we’ll have power and things will be (quasi) normal again.

Helpful Hint #18: It's not a mystery novel...read the pattern through!

Stop me if you've read this before:

"k2,p2,k2tog..."

Then the next row:

"k2, p3, p2tog..."

THEN you read:

"At the SAME TIME" or "Concurrently"...

...and then you throw the pattern across the room and scream a bunch of bad words that would have gotten your mouth washed out with soap, once upon a time (some of us are older knitters than others).

We knitters and crocheters have all, at one time or another, been zapped by "simultaneous instructions." A very common place for this is in a pattern where you are making a sweater or a vest with a V-neck, where you are supposed to be decreasing for the set-in sleeve and for the neck at the same time.

This is why it is always best to read a pattern from beginning to end before you start. Some crafters are of the mindset that this will only overwhelm you and make you less apt to persevere. My feeling is that if you read ahead you can be alerted to:

a) Those pesky concurrent instructions.

b) Any stitch patterns you are unfamiliar with.

c) Where you are supposed to change yarns, if applicable. In other words, do you need to buy ALL the yarn at the beginning of the project, or is the pattern going to go on and on with the "MC" for 14 inches? This may necessitate multiple trips to the yarn store, but this is only to the good...

d) Any other odd instructions. Now is probably the time to know if you are going to need to felt the item (some of us would need further instruction on this).

Now, get reading!

Helpful Hint #17: Wearables—aim for complimentary over complex

You know how it is. Some book, magazine, or on-line pattern comes out, touting some new knitting or crocheting technique. You get excited, thinking “WOW! I can make an entire sweater using Bavarian crochet!” Sometimes it’s a tried-and-true older technique.

Before you get too crazy, you need to step back from the yarn and implements. You need to THINK.

I found out a while back that it’s possible to knit an adult-sized “Baby Surprise Jacket.” Upon an honest, searching, and fearless appraisal, I decided that—while I thought the IDEA of an adult-sized “Baby Surprise Jacket” was really awesome and would probably be fun to knit—there was no way I’d look well in multi-directional stripes, especially seeing as the horizontal stripes fall at the hips. I don’t think I know anyone who would look well in multi-directional stripes, except maybe a Size 4 model, or the baby for whom the sweater was originally designed.

Ditto with any other unusual sweater design. I fell in love with the “Spoke” sweater from Knitty when it came out. I’m sure it would be a wonderful and challenging pattern to knit, but really, I’d look like a moose. I also have a granny square sweater in my Ravelry queue that I’m probably never going to make, for the same reason. I think the idea of Elizabeth Zimmermann’s “Hurry-Up Last Minute Sweater” is a cool concept, but again, I’m guessing that a man would look better in this than a woman—probably a male model.

So, the next time you see some fascinating wearable design—THINK before you cast or chain on!

Helpful Hint #15: Presents—Ask before executing!

Now a word about presents—specifically, knitted and crocheted presents. Actually, this applies to any craft present upon which you have devoted hours upon hours of your free time—forsaking food, sleep, and bathing in some instances—to get it completed by the appointed due date. For us procrastinators, this would be Christmas Eve, the night before the wedding, as the baby is being born, etc.

Always, ALWAYS, check first to see if the recipient is interested in a handmade item. Over the years, I have heard horror stories about people who suffered terrible disappointments over the reception of their present. One woman I met once told me that she had sweat blood for SIX MONTHS making a shawl for her prospective daughter-in-law. She triumphantly presented the finished item to her at the bridal shower. The bride-to-be’s response? “I’ll never wear anything like that!” Another friend of mine once found a handmade item in the local thrift shop. Yes, you guessed it…she had given the item to someone several months back.

I find the best thing to do is to either wait until someone requests something, or just ask. It is better to find out ahead of time that either the person would LOVE something handcrafted by you; or, frankly, they’d rather have a Playstation.

Then I go into Business Analyst mode. I ask them what they would like for colors, how large or small they want the item (“blanket” usually means “afghan” – check, to make sure they don’t want something large enough to cover the bed), what type of fiber (some people do not want wool in any form, other people would sooner pet a live tarantula rather than touch acrylic), etc. Just ask anything that occurs to you, no matter how trivial. Clarify statements like, “I want the colors mixed in together.” This could mean they want a variegated yarn, or they want big blocks of color or stripes—you just don’t know until you ask.

Then go for it! I’ve had very good results sticking to the above technique, so much so that one person has asked me for more than one thing…LOL!

Helpful Hint #13: Keep your supplies organized!

The other day, I decided to make something that required doubling up worsted weight yarn—which in turn required Size 13 knitting needles. My original idea was to do the project in the round, but using a 16” circular wasn’t going to cut it. I dove into my under-the-bed bin to search for my #13 dpns (double-point needles). Yes, you guessed it…I couldn’t find them! I rooted around in the bin for ages. I found every other size dpn in creation, in every conceivable material (wood, bamboo, aluminum, etc.), but NO SIZE 13s! I ended up having to go with Size 13 straights and just knit the project in a different way.

This brings me to my hint: For God’s sake, organize your supplies!

This is a clear-cut case of “Do as I say, not as I do.” I have my circular needles in my closet in one of those hanging organizers, I have my yarn grouped according to quality (nice yarn in one large bin, rot-gut acrylic in another), and all my crochet hooks are in a special pouch I crocheted. My straight needles and dpns, however, are in a haphazard MESS in one of the bins. The best thing I could probably do is to find containers for the straights and dpns, and perhaps rubber-band needles together so that I don’t keep ending up with one size 8 and one size 13.

Finding the time for this is another matter…

Helpful Hiint #12: UFOs…frog or finish!

Okay, this is clearly a case of “Do as I say, not as I do.” Seriously, though, UFOs (Unfinished Objects) are a sad reality in craft-dom. We start out a project with the best of intentions. We spend oodles of money on the yarn (the LYS was having a sale—$100—a bargain!), we scour the earth for the perfect pattern, we spend MORE money on just the right needles, we cast on or make the starting chain, and then—   

Well, there are many reasons why a project becomes a UFO. It could be that:

1. You suddenly needed to make something else for someone’s shower (people always seem to be breeding), tossed this project aside, and just never got around to it again.
2. You quickly discovered that the stitch pattern is almost impossible for you to master, short of an advanced degree from MIT.
3. Partway through, you discovered that the item is just NOT going to be quite what was advertised—that model looked WAY better in that sweater than you ever will, even if you go on a crash diet.
4. You ran out of yarn and not only can’t you find the same dye lot again—you can’t find the same COLOR period because it’s been discontinued! 

This (d) happened to me recently (okay, months ago) with the Granny Stripe Afghan. Patons no longer makes one of the colors I was using. So, I’m faced with my own helpful hint. I need to either find the other yarn colors and at least crochet up to the point of the missing color, and just have the item be a Granny Stripe Shawl instead of an afghan; or I need to just rip out the whole thing and use the yarn for something else.

I need to do this soon as UFOs do have a tendency to haunt you…and they DO attract MORE UFOs!

Helpful Hint #8: Counting on Crochet

Over the course of my knitting and crocheting life, I’ve experimented with various row counters. I’ve tried electronic ones, the Kacha-Kacha type ones, plain old pad and pencil – hands down, my favorite ones are those little plastic barrel counters, either the kind you slide onto the needle or hang by the loop onto circular needles. I have many, many of these in various project bags, as you never know when you might need one. I like the fact that it’s a row counter that stays WITH the project. Also, you can play around with it. If you have, say, a pattern where you need to repeat rows 1-8 six times, you can turn the barrel numbers independently of one another.  I know, there’s probably an App somewhere that will do this much more efficiently, but like I said, I like a counter that stays with the project. If you do a lot of crafting in public, like I do, you want a counter you can turn discreetly, versus having to whip out your Blackberry to punch in the next row repeat. 

This, however, poses a bit of a problem for crochet. Some have argued that you can just slide the barrel counter onto a crochet hook, but this is assuming two things:

1) I’m able to keep my crochet hook with my project. Sometimes I end up using the same hook for multiple projects, or I just misplace it.

2) I use a hook that’s of a size to accommodate a barrel counter. Being a tight crocheter, I tend to use a larger hook; and, because of my wrist/thumb issues, I like to use either those foam rubber hook covers or the Susan Bates Bamboo Handle hooks.

So, I’ve hit upon a solution (that I’m sure is not unique). I take a safety pin and fasten a looped barrel counter onto my crochet project. I either fasten it at the very bottom, or I keep moving the safety pin up as I go along. The latter is a more practical solution if you’re working on a very large project like an afghan.

Happy Crocheting!

Helpful Hint #7: Managing your spouse…Get them to buy the yarn

In the years AL (Anno Lana – Year of our Wool), I have come across friends and acquaintances with spouses or significant others. These spouses/significant others are either supportive of their better half’s yarn exploits, lukewarm, or downright anti-craft.

I feel that this sort of thing can be managed if one employs a certain degree of–well, I hesitate to say “manipulation.” Let’s just say…persuasion.

One sure-fire way to enlist the help and goodwill of your spouse is to get them in on the project. Ideal projects are some sort of present that neither one of you wants to buy–your spouse, because he/she doesn’t know the recipient very well, and you because you really would rather knit or crochet a present rather than buy one more fondue set or one more Winnie the Pooh-themed baby shower present. You can start by showing your spouse the pattern you want to make (or at least outline what you’d like to accomplish–if your spouse is a man, goals are very important). Explain that if your spouse buys the yarn, you will be more than happy to SLOG along for a good EIGHT weeks, TOILING away on said project, working your FINGERS TO THE BONE. All they have to do is front the money.

If your spouse is agreeable, you can bring them along to the store to get said yarn. My Sweetums usually likes to do this, and can be quite entertaining.  She once declared, in Wal-Mart, in a very loud voice, that I shouldn't buy the blue and pink variegated baby yarn because, “THE BABY COULD HAVE ISSUES.”

Overall, as they love to say in Corporate America, this is a win-win. You get yarn to play with and your spouse gets to avoid shopping for baby things or bridal registry items.

You know they’d much rather go to Home Depot…

Helpful Hint #5: Tips for Arm/Wrist/Thumb Strain and Tendonitis

I first contracted tendonitis, not by knitting or crocheting, but by scooping ice cream, of all things—I was working at a summer job. My right wrist was in agony for a very long time. I ended up having to get a cortisone shot just so I could pass my driving test that summer.

Years later, at work as a developer, it flared up again—this time in both wrists. This time, the culprit was too much typing at a workstation that wasn’t ergonomically correct. That was back when ergonomics was first a hot issue, so the minute I called personnel I had someone at my workstation within the hour. Again, it took a very long time to get over that particular bout.

Imagine my shock years later to discover that my favorite new hobbies, knitting and crocheting, also aggravated my tendonitis…

After much trial and error, I finally hit upon a strategy for dealing with my condition.

First of all, I get medical attention, which I strongly recommend to anyone who is having any sort of strain from knitting and crocheting. I’ve been lucky, in that I haven’t required any surgery for my condition, but everyone is different. I’ve had physical therapy off and on over the years, which seems to work fine for me.

Also:

1) In general, I take frequent breaks—especially when crocheting. My rule of thumb is to knit or crochet for 15 minutes, then rest for 15 minutes, alternatively. This works especially well if you’re watching TV, as you can time your breaks for the commercial breaks and keep track that way!

2) When I have a nasty flair-up, I use one of those firmer wrist braces at night and a more flexible one during the day (Futuro puts out good ones–you can get them either online or in the drug store). Now that the tendonitis has spread to my thumb (too much texting), I wear one of those flexible thumb splints for daytime activities, again by Futuro.

3) I changed the setup on my laptop at work so that I now mouse on the left-hand side of my workstation (if you’re left-handed, do the opposite). It took a good three days to get used to the change, but overall, the incidence of flair-ups has decreased dramatically.

And, most importantly—REST!!!

Helpful Hint #4 – Pack all the essentials you need for each WIP into each bag

In honor of World Wide Knit in Public Day (Saturday, June 11, 2011), I thought it might be good to have a word about take along projects and supplies…

Take the rubber band off the money and invest in all the essentials you need for each WIP and pack them into each separate bag. This may seem like a lot of money and redundancy, but believe me, it’s worth it.

In the past, I found that I was constantly bringing projects out in public, minus some crucial tool. I’d be out somewhere happily knitting a sweater sleeve, when suddenly I’d come across a knot in the skein, which necessitated cutting the yarn. You guessed it – no scissors or any device of any kind with which I could cut wool, and depending on the wool, sometimes you can’t really break it manually. Another time, I was at the allergist’s office. I had come prepared with a baby blanket that I was crocheting for Project Linus. I was all set to wait 30-40 minutes for my allergist to get his act together and get through all 20 people still sitting in the waiting room (I had the distinct feeling that little “Jimmy” in the corner with the wheezing and sniffles was going to take a while), when I opened my bag and made a horrible discovery…

I had brought the WRONG crochet hook!

So, this is why I’m now a great proponent of being prepared with every conceivable tool needed for each project. You don’t need to break the bank – just go out to your local discount or dollar store and stock up. The one thing I don’t skimp on is the row counters. I like to get the little barrel ones that you can either attach to a straight needle or hang off a circular needle. Or if you’re one of the idle rich, get a bunch of those cute little “Knit Kits.” See http://www.theknitkit.com/ for details…you can find them at the LYS or on-line.

Happy Knit in Public Day!

Helpful Hint #2 - Take-Along projects—bring a project that is easy to do.

When I first started taking along my knitting and crocheting projects to do in public, I made the mistake of choosing ANY project I happened to be working on, hoping to impress people with my "advanced" skills.

MISTAKE. 

I quickly discovered that a complicated cable stitch pattern with an 18-row repeat was NOT the way to go for someone who has trouble remembering a 5-item grocery list.

This gets even iffier if you are crafting during something to which you are supposed to be paying attention, such as:

1) A lecture
2) A sermon
3) A 12-Step meeting
4) A sporting event
5) A movie (a major problem, seeing as this is in the dark)

I could continue on, ad infinitum, seeing as we yarn and thread people have discovered any number of venues at which to practice our craft on the fly. 

The point here is to bring along something that is relatively easy to do, so that you can pay attention to the activity at hand.  I find projects that involve endless rows of stockinette stitch, garter stitch, or single crochet are ideal candidates for this.  These are the sort of projects where one is in serious danger of death by boredom, unless they are executed while listening to a lecture, a sermon, a movie, etc.  Also, projects like these make it easier to get into "the zone"—that perfect synergy of creating while taking in the world around you that we crafters know only too well.

In addition to long, drawn-out cable patterns, other public no-nos include:

1)  Projects that require that you follow a pattern, whether it be on paper or on a pdf file off your laptop, eReader, or PDA. 

2)  Projects that require multiple color changes. 

3)  Projects where you are unfamiliar with the stitches and/or the technique—for instance, don't pick the next baseball game to decide you'd like to experiment with DPNs.

4)  Fair Isle Knitting, unless you are REALLY good at it.  There is a woman I know who can not only do this and listen—she can do this and TALK at the same time.  Usually, for us mere mortals, this goes back to #1 above (following a pattern).

Happy KIP-ing and CIP-ing!*

*KIP = Knit in Public and CIP = Crochet in Public

Crochet Pattern for Special Olympics Scarf

At long last, I've finished my Special Olympics scarf! Keeping with the basic guidelines at the site http://www.scarvesforspecialolympics.org I decided to create my own pattern...


Crochet Pattern for the Special Olympics Scarf

Measurements: 6" wide x 60" long, excluding fringe.

Gauge: Each V group = 3/4", 13 rows = 4.5”
Row gauge is not critical, as the rows are repeated until almost 6” is reached.

Materials:
1 skein each
Red Heart Supersaver Blue (#0886) - A
Red Heart Supersaver Turqua (#0512) - B
Hook: K (6.50mm)

NOTE: The scarf is worked lengthwise.

Using A, ch 221

Row 1: sc into the 2nd chain from the hook, and then sc across until the end of the row. Fasten off, leaving a long tail, at least 8 inches long (these tails will be part of the fringe). 220 sts.

Row 2: Using B, fasten on and (sc,ch1,dc) in 1 st to form a V, (skip next 2 sts, sv - V stitch - in next st) across to last 3 sts, skip next 2 sts, hdc in last st. Fasten off, leaving a long tail. Should have 73 sv repeats, plus the 1 hdc at the end of the row.

Row 3: Using A, fasten on as a sc in the first stitch, then sv in each ch 1 space across, then hdc in the last stitch. Fasten off, leaving a long tail.

Repeat Row 3, alternating between colors A and B, each time fastening off to leave a tail. When the scarf measures almost 6" wide (ending with A), fasten off, leaving a long tail.

Last Row: Using B, fasten on as hdc, then * (sc,hdc) into the ch 1 space, hdc into next stitch (sc of the previous row, where there is a "dip" in the row). Continue from * until the end of the row. Hdc into the last stitch, and then fasten off, leaving a long tail.

The scarf should now be 6” wide and 60” long.

Fringe:
Cut 12” lengths of both colors of yarn – at least 9 strands of each A and B color.
Taking a strand of A and a strand of B for each fringe grouping, tie a fringe across the ends of the scarf. Incorporate the strands left from the fastening off of each row.

Trim all the ends to be a uniform length.