What you need:
- MORE YARN!! If you had any left over from making the scarf itself, use it for the fringe!
- scissors
- yarn needle
- a small piece of cardboard (optional)
By now, the scarf is complete. I could start wearing the scarf but I wanted to make it less boring. To do so, I added a fringe! This idea came from a different book so the initial strands you cut may not be enough. Don't worry though, if you run out of strands, you can always cut more!
- Wrap the yarn around cardboard 52 times. If you don't want the hassle of cutting a small piece of cardboard, use your hand.
- Cut along the yarn on ONE side.
- Fold a strand in half and thread it through your needle.
- Pull the yarn through a stitch and secure it.
- Repeat steps 3-4 for every stitch and then do it for the other end of the scarf (White 86). Essentially, you're knotting the strand through each stitch to secure it.
After what seems like forever, you're done with the scarf!!! Here's what my scarf looks like:
Do you prefer the scarf with or without the fringe?
White, Stephanie. You Can Knit!: Knit and Purl Your Way through 12 Fun and Easy Projects. Cincinnati, OH: Fons & Porter, 2015. Print
What you need:
After you finished your scarf, you
may have noticed random strands left hanging as a result of where you joined a new ball of yarn. To get rid of them you have to weave in the ends (Ham 51). The process of darning in loose ends is very simple.
- Thread your yarn through the needle.
- There's a lot of different ways to weave in the ends. Through many attempts, I've found that following the sts in a line is the easiest.
- From where your strand starts, find the closest st and follow it. Bring your needle under and up as if you're sewing.
- After weaving the strand in and out a few times, it should be secure.
- Cut the excess yarn off and you're done! "Trim the ends close to the scarf, being careful not to cut the scarf" (White 34).
After darning in the extra strands, you are officially done with your scarf!
I was really proud of myself for completing the scarf, what are some things that make you proud?
Ham, Catherine. Knitting 20 Simple & Stylish Wearables for Beginners. New York: Lark, 2003. Print.
White, Stephanie. You Can Knit!: Knit and Purl Your Way through 12 Fun and Easy Projects. Cincinnati, OH: Fons & Porter, 2015. Print
Sometimes you run out of yarn, it happens. When this occurs, you have to join your old ball of yarn with a new one. When I ran out of yarn I completely freaked out because I had no idea what to do. I almost settled for a 1 1/2 foot long scarf. I deemed this impractical and looked up videos on how to join a new ball of yarn (because my book didn't mention how to do this). To my surprise, it was quite simple.
Joining a new ball of yarn:
- Leave at least six inches from your old ball of yarn to secure it with the new ball.
- Let the new strand overlap the old strand.
- In your right hand you'll have two strands, use it as if it were one strand.
- Knit 3-5 stitches to secure your new ball of yarn.
- After the initial stitches, drop the old strand and use the new one.
- When you get back to the stitches where you used two strands, knit/purl as if the two loops were one.
Binding off:
- Once you've reached this point, you're almost done! But if you're extra like me, stay tuned for my future posts!!
Binding off is the process of securing your last row.
"Work the first two stitches on the left-hand needle, then use the point of the left-hand needle to lift the first stitch on the right-hand needle over the second stitch. Knit the next stitch on the left-hand needle, and repeat the procedure" (Ham 16). Continue this process until all the sts are gone on the left needle. You will be left with one stitch on your right needle, cut the yarn a few inches away from the needle to disconnect from the ball. Now, all you have to do is pull the tail through and it'll be secure!
After countless hours of messing up and persevering, I have FINALLY finished. The feeling of accomplishment is a wonderful reward to all the time and effort I've put into this project.
Do you think you're capable of such a time consuming task?
Ham, Catherine. Knitting 20 Simple & Stylish Wearables for Beginners. New York: Lark, 2003. Print.
What you need:
- 3-5 balls of yarn
- I used Patons Classic Wool, each ball of yarn was approximately 78 yards long. The amount of yarn you choose to use is based off of your personal preference.
- knitting needles (size: 10.5)
The slang you've got to know:
*check out my last post for an in depth explanation of how to do the following:
- "CO: cast on
- sts: stitch(es)
- k: knit
- p: purl" (Ham 20).
These abbreviations are used to make the instructions more concise.
1) "CO 28 sts loosely, and work the 8 row pattern as follows:
- Row 1: (k4, p4) to last 4 sts, k4.
- Row 2: (p4, k4) to last 4 sts, p4.
- Rows 3 and 4: repeat rows 1 and 2.
- Row 5: (p4, k4) to last 4 sts, p4.
- Row 6: (k4, p4) to last 4 sts, k4.
- Rows 7 and 8: repeat rows 5 and 6" (Ham 51).
This is the main bulk of the project. As you continue to knit, the pattern becomes a lot easier to achieve because of its repetitiveness. With such a simple pattern you can easily lose track of time while working, that's why it's important to take breaks in between. You have to allow your muscles to loosen up before they start cramping (Ham 19).
When I first started the project I kept messing up because it was basically my first time knitting. I didn't know how to undo my mistakes so every time I messed up, I would start from scratch. This is one way to fix your mistakes, but the further along you mess up, the more you have to redo. Eventually, this method becomes very time consuming. My book doesn't mention how to correct mistakes so I had to look it up after deciding that I didn't want to waste my hard work. Turned out that this method was not only easier, but also saved me a lot of time.
Undoing a knit stitch:
- Pull up on the yarn you're working with and a gap will appear.
- With your left needle, go through from front to back to secure your old stitch back onto the needle.
- Once the old stitch is secure, pull the remaining stitch and yarn off of your right needle.
Undoing a purl stitch:
- Undoing a purl stitch is almost identical to undoing a knit stitch.
- In your right hand, you should be able to identify a bump that formed from your purl stitch.
- With your left needle, go under from front to back to secure your old stitch.
- Once the old stitch is secure, pull the remaining stitch and yarn off.
When you make a mistake, do you let it hold you back from prospering?
Ham, Catherine. Knitting 20 Simple & Stylish Wearables for Beginners. New York: Lark, 2003. Print.
In the book Knitting 20 Simple & Stylish Wearables for Beginners by Catherine Ham, she explains the basics of knitting through detailed explanations and various pictures. In this post I'll be explaining how to start your knitting projects.
Before you can start knitting, you have to cast on the yarn. When casting on, you only need one of your knitting needles. Start by making a loop knot. Keep in mind that the tail is used to form your first row. Slip the needle through and tighten the knot. This is your first stitch. Next, lay the loose end across your opposite hand and wrap it around your thumb. Trap it with your fingers and bring the needle under the loose strand. Then, take the ball end of the yarn and wrap it around the needle from behind. You should now have a loop. Bring the needle through and pull the loose end to tighten your second stitch. Repeat until you have the necessary amount of stitches for your project.
There are two basic stitches that you should learn when knitting: the purl and knit stitch. As long as you know these two, the rest should come easy (Ham 13).
Knit:
"Insert the right needle into the first stitch of the left one, going from front to back. Pass yarn under and up the front of the right needle. Draw it through the stitch with the right needle. Drop the stitch from the left needle. The stitch on the right needle is your knit stitch" (Ham 13).
Continue until you reach the end of the row. To start a new one, all you have to do is move your work back into your left hand and continue knitting.
Purl:
"Position the yarn in the front of your work. Insert the right needle into the first stitch on the left needle, going from back to front. Pass the yarn over, down the back, and under the right needle. Draw it through the stitch to the back. Drop the stitch from the left needle. The stitch on the right is your purl stitch" (Ham 13).
For the current project I'm working on, it requires me to knit four (K4) and purl four (P4). I chose to start with this one because it provided good practice for learning the basics. As you can see, the pattern alternates. The part that comes out is from the purl stitches and the ones that are flat are the knit stitches. If you were to flip it to the other side, the knit stitches would then be coming out and the purl stitches would be flat because they're opposites of each other.
Have you ever attempted to knit? If so, how was your experience?
Ham, Catherine. Knitting 20 Simple & Stylish Wearables for Beginners. New York: Lark, 2003. Print.
