scarf

So, as I mentioned the blog posts have slowed down but at home its been a mad dash to get projects completed.  The house is a disaster zone but we’re making great progress.

Even with all the housework I was able to work on a small knitting project for myself.  I found this Easy Lace Scarf pattern via Ravelry.com.  It’s a very easy to follow pattern but I realized I didn’t have enough yarn to make the scarf long enough so I improvised!

A lot of knitted hand warmers are worked in rounds.  This prevents the piece from having a seam. But if you don’t have supplies like double pointed needles or aren’t into knitting rounds just yet this is a great beginners option.

Lace scarf turned hand warmers. Here’s how:

Needle size: US 8
Yarn: Worsted weight

Lace pattern from Knittersreview.com
Cast on 22 stitches and knit 2 rows.

Now you’re ready to begin the lace pattern, which is as follows.
Row 1: (RS): K all sts.
Row 2: K2, p18, k2. (Those 2 border stitches on either end will always be knit in garter stitch—their role is to keep your fabric from curling.)
Row 3: K2, (K2Tog) 3 times, (YO,K1) 6 times, (K2Tog) 3 times, k2.
Row 4: K all sts.

Repeat rows 1- 4  10 times or till the piece measures 6 inches, then knit 3 more rows before binding off.  Create another piece the same size.

Once complete place them on top of each other with right sides together and hand stitch up one side. Doesn’t matter which side as they are identical.

The next step is to figure out where to place the thumb hole.  For that, place the piece over your hand and use stitch markers to figured out where to leave the opening.

Once again place the two piece on top of each other right sides together and hand stitched to the stitch markers and that was it. Turn right side out and your done.  Pretty easy and the seam isn’t even noticeable!

The yarn I used was a silk/cashmere blend so it had a lot of stretch to it which made them a little on the big side.  Nothing a warm wash can’t fix.

However, if I made them again I would keep the pattern the same but perhap use an acrylic yarn and smaller needles (US 7) so they don’t stretch as much.

This past weekend we headed down to Table Rock Lake just outside Branson, MO.  It’s been an annual event for quite a few years now (maybe 6) and I look forward to it every year.  The first few years it was an organized camping trip but in the past couple of years we have graduated to a lake house.  There were eleven of us this year and we couldn’t have asked for better weather.  The house had 6 bedrooms, 2 outside patios and access to the lake. The only down side was that it didn’t have a boat dock so we had to drive to the nearby marina.

All the girls at the marina waiting for the boys & the boats to arrive

We rented a pontoon boat (aka party barge) as well as a little speed boat.  The speed boat was a great addition this year.  It was nice to go zipping around the lake and to allow others to go tubing and wakeboarding.  Jason made several successful attempts at wakeboarding which seems very hard and he’s still aching.  Granted getting yanked out of the water at full speed has to take its toll!  I remembered just about everything for this trip except for the camera!  So documenting this trip was a little tough.

Scarf close-up

I was able to take some pics of a project I worked on during the commute to and from the lake.  I finished up my version of the simple scarf tutorial over at Pretty Ditty which came in handy at dusk when the sun started to go down and the wind kicked up on the lake.

I used a lightweight wrinkled linen fabric purchased on Etsy.com

All in all, it was a really fun weekend even if I wasn’t able to drink or participate in any action sports but there’s always next year!