I’m not avoiding the vest…

I just needed to make a test swatch for my next project because I bought two different kinds of yarn and I needed to see if they would felt the same… and I didn’t feel like working on the vest.  Alright, there, I admit it, I was avoiding the vest.

I intend to make this purse* next (after the vest) and the test swatch I procrastinated with actually did teach me a lot.  Since I haven’t purchased the pattern, I wanted to see if I could figure out how to make a hexagon.  That was actually easy.  I did discover, however, that I can’t use the two yarns together because they definitely will not felt the same, hence the more tightly felted curled up edges. 

Good to know, so really not wasted knitting time. The yarn in the center is Patons SWS Natural Earth.  I will probably just use it alone and not edge it in a solid colour.  I think if I plan it properly I should end up with the same colour at the edges of the front and back hexagon.  All this after I finish my vest, of course!

I did do a bit more work on the vest this weekend, but not much, if truth be told.

*Yes,  I know I have previously posted that I don’t carry purses but the NOT purse I made may have worked its charms on me, in the way NOT purses are want to do.  Also, the polygon bag  appeals to me in an obsessively crazy way.  I will probably make it and never carry it though.

Scarves and procrastination

So... the vest... not much progress happening because... well... I suck!! Since I have nothing much to report on the vest front, and because the guilt of that incomplete project won't allow me to start the purse I want to make next, I will instead talk about my scarves of last winter.

I adore making scarves! It is mindless comfort knitting. More importantly, having lots of scarves to wear over a long winter cheers me up no end. It alleviates the monotony of wearing the same coat all winter.

I used to love big wide scarves that were really more like shawls than scarves, but last winter I fell in love with looooong skinny scarves. These are fun because you can wrap them around your neck two or three times and still have loads of scarf left to tie off. My favorite scarf is 11cm (about 4.5 inches) wide and over 9 ft long not including the fringe! You can see it on the left in the picture below. The yarn, which I picked up in a discount bin, was not labled but is incredibly soft and silky.

These three scarves are all super basic. They were done in garter stitch - can't get any easier than that! While I usually don't find garter stitch to be attractive, I think it works particularly well with scarves done in textured yarn.