Project-a-month resolution: June

Well, I wrote this post a while ago, but somehow failed to actually publish it. I blame my total technical ineptitude.

Anyway, this is what was happening in June ...

With winter here, I decided I needed a couple of new scarves more than I needed yet another quilt, so this month, unfinished projects have taken a backseat to new ones.

First up, I wanted to use a yarn I've had for about five years. I bought it to make socks with, but I've since realised that a) I'm unlikely to make socks any time soon, and b) if I do, it's probably a bit dumb to use nice yarn for my first effort. So instead I made a scarf from Joelle Hoverson's excellent Last-Minute Knitted Gifts. It's a very easy-to-remember chevron pattern.

Because I'm a symmetry freak, I made it in two pieces, then grafted them together in the middle. Knitting guru Maggie Righetti says that stocking stitch grafting is so easy that even a beginner can whizz across a row of it in no time. I'm far from a beginner, but grafting baffles me at every attempt. I have to consult books (note the plural) and have about six goes at it before I get it not-quite-right. So it was with this scarf, but the two bits joined up eventually.

Normally grafting is done with the knitting still on the needles, but I can never follow
the rhythm of the stitches that way. This time I threaded crochet cotton through the
stitches and taped the cotton onto a board, which made it easier. 

In progress...

And done.

It was pretty crinkly when I finished it, so I did some steam-blocking with the iron. And voila, ready to wear.

Next I wanted a pattern to show off some new Noro Silk Garden I bought recently.

It's colour 84. Slightly scratchy to wear, but very beautiful.

I experimented with some lace patterns but nothing seemed right, so I rethought it. Abandoning my tendency to overengineer just about everything, I knitted it in garter stitch, with three stitches of stocking stitch at both ends of every row. This gives a neat edge that rolls back on itself so that the scarf is reversible.

I'm pretty pleased with it. I love the autumnal tones and the way they shade subtly into each other. Some more steam blocking to iron out a bit of waviness along the edges, and it was ready to go.

And now July's challenge is to finish another quilt.