It's All Susan's Fault

Last winter, my friend Susan gifted me with a fun knitted ruffly scarf (the red, black, gray, and white one in the above photo) and convinced me that I could also make one myself. I'm not a knitter, although I did learn the basic stitches for both knitting and crocheting from my mother many years ago when I was in my teens. I love the look of all of the gorgeous knitted scarves, shawls, sweaters, etc. that I see all over the blogosphere, but don't have the patience to learn the more advanced skills that would be required to make them. I have too many obsessions as it is. But I couldn't resist making more scarves -- and talk about basic...there's nothing easier to knit than these.

So, in between making quilts and trying all sorts of new recipes, I've managed to finish three more scarves and have another one on my needles. The colors are much more vibrant in person than in the photos.

I've worn these scarves almost everywhere I've been this winter, and even though I thought the ruffly scarf trend was so 2012, I've received many compliments on them. Non-knitters don't believe me when I tell them how easy they are...and they really are!

But I'm afraid I don't plan to make anything else with my knitting needles...I still have way too much fabric that needs to be sewn into quilts and I don't need a giant yarn stash! (but when I go with my friends to yarn shops, I completely understand their obsession).

Party Time!

In my previous post, I showed what I created using leftover yarn and water-soluble stabilizer. What you see here today is what I'm taking to my guild's holiday party this evening. The "fabric" that I created is used as gift wrapping for the two fat quarters for our gift exchange. I rolled up the FQ's and wrapped them in the style of an English Christmas cracker. I'm hoping that the person who goes home with this package re-uses the wrapping for someone else.

In recent years, guild members have been more excited about the gift wrapping than the FQ's themselves. I can't wait to see what the gift table looks like tonight!

Creative Stitching

Edited -- 8:45AM -- I've linked this post on Nina Marie's Off the Wall Friday. Check it out to see what other interesting fiber projects are out there.

After creating a fun scarf with Christmas yarn and water-soluble stabilizer a couple of months ago (see my blog post here), I decided to try something different to use up the remaining yarn. What you see in the above photo is the yarn sewn with a zigzag stitch on to a piece of stabilizer (about the size of a regular sheet of paper).

What you see below is what both sides look like after the stabilizer has been washed out.

Stay tuned to see what I used this for...

Neck Garland?

In just a few short hours, I made this Christmas-y scarf out of glittery yarn...

Less than half a skein of each color...

This is what it looked like (front and back) after I was finished sewing, but before being dunked in water....

These are fun to make, especially for those of us who love yarn, but don't knit (knitting-impaired, as a previous visitor to my blog said). You can see a photo of my first one that I made here.

I'm At It Again

Stay tuned to see the finished product...

Fiber Fun Complete!

Here's the completed project that I've been blogging about all week....

I used a zigzag stitch to sew the yarn down on wash-away stabilizer, making a grid by sewing eight long rows down and then the shorter rows across. I left a bit of yarn hanging off of the long ends of the stabilizer to make some fringe (not really visible in this photo). Once it was all sewn down ( it's a great way to use up thread), it went into a pan of water until all of the stabilizer dissolved. I kept rinsing it until I got all the stickiness and stiffness out.

This was very easy and fun to do and I love the result. There are so many gorgeous yarns available now and I've been very envious of my knitting friends who get to use that yarn. Well, now I can use it, too, without having to learn how to read a knitting pattern!