cream wool scarf

this is the cream wool scarf i'm working on at the moment, it's 100% merino (Schachenmayr 'extra merino big' , €3.50 per 50g). I got the wool in Germany before christmas. It's the 'clapotis' pattern from knitty but i'm not making it as wide. I'm hoping it'll keep me warm when i walk home from the train, if it's very cold i like to wrap my scarf around my head and neck so it needs to be wide enough and long enough , not the most stylish but by far the warmest solution. I like the way it curls when not stretched.

I learned the hard way that it's near impossible to go back past a dropped stitch row! i forgot a y.o. and didn't realise until after i had dropped... in the end i had to fudge it to make an extra stitch where i needed it. not great but hopefully the edge will curl and it won't be too visible. Has anybody else had that problem? Has anybody managed to fix a mistake further back?

I also made this hat from the last minute 'purled' beret pattern, using rialto aran, and 5.5mm needles. I had to photoshop my face as i'm a little camera shy, also my husband says the hat 'dwarfs' my head (I do realise it's hard to tell with my thorough photoshopping job! I still like it, kind of. If I was to make it again I'd use a fluffyer yarn and knit it with thicker wool or thinner needles to make it less floppy. It was really quick and easy to make!
Has anyone got suggestions for hat patterns or styles that don't 'dwarf' a long narrow face?


I knit on the train the other day, I felt a bit self conscious, but I just kept my head down. I haven't seen anybody knit on the train, in the two and a half years that i've been taking it, or on the bus for that matter, and i've been taking buses here for the last 6 years. Is it different in the US, or UK? I find in Ireland there isn't as much of a culture of younger people (i.e. below pension age) making things. At home it was part of the secondary school curriculum so by the time you left school you had a lot of basic skills. And most of the girls I knew were doing something with their hands after school/uni/work, home decorations, fixing up furniture, knitting or sewing, gardening... here it seems to be highly unusual in my age group! Even the older generation, like my husband's mum, don't do much knitting or sewing! What's it like where you're living?

moss stitch scarf

just came across this photo of a moss stitch scarf i made for my sister in law, it's the only one i have, at just a few rows, the finished scarf was over 2m long! top of the door frame is two meters, right?
the photo quality is bad, i took this with my not very advanced camera phone...

the first sock in years...

i haven't made socks since 1st year in college! i got some lovely multicoloured cotton in LIDL and had to give it a go straight away! i called my mum for instructions and browsed the web for a quick refresher and it's surprising how it all comes back to you...

i cast on 32 stitches (long tail), knit 14 rounds k1p1, then one round k. the i did the heel with 16 stitches, in stocking stitch, 13 rows. on row 14 i k12, k2tog tbl, k1. turn. k4, k2tog tbl, k1. turn, and so on until i had 10 stitches on the needle and a perfectly turned little heel.



i picked up 8 stitches (maybe 7 would have done, it's a bit 'crowded' at the bottom corners) from the sides, knit 2 rounds and then started k2tog (through front loop)on either side of the top of the sock every second row, until i was back to 32 stitches. then i knit some more (this is just a trial, i need a reference sock or baby foot to see what length it should be) and started decreasing (k2tog through back loop). in this case i k2tog every 5th&6th stitch until i had 25 stitches. then every 4th&5th 5 times, then every 3rd and 4th 5 times, then every 2nd and 3rd 5 times, then the remaining 2tog 5 times, then bound off. this made for a lovely "star" pattern but also for a very sudden end to the sock, i will unravel and when i know how long the socks should be come up with a better decreasing. i like when they decrease round rather than flat. any suggestions?