Tag: scarf

My Knitting Life · Non-Knitting Projects

Sewing and Knitting: A Happy Combo

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I wanted an eyelet-style dress, but not in white which seems to be the predominant color of eyelet, especially during the summer. So off I went on a fabric-hunting expedition, but with gas at $5.00/gallon, I only went virtually. I shopped online at Fashion Fabrics Club and bought an excellent burgundy eyelet, more geometric in design than floral. For the dress I used McCall’s M7948; at about $7.00/yard multiplied by 3.5 yards, I got a great deal! (It never ceases to amaze me how expensive Joann’s sub-par fabric is.)

About this fabric:

Thing 1: it’s dry clean only, but I’m confident that I can carefully wash it.

Thing 2: It frayed very easily as I was sewing it. It’s a good thing I’m an experienced seamstress!

The fabric is lightweight, and the dress is billowy and comfortable. But because sometimes air conditioning in the summer is a little aggressive, I knit a simple shawl to go along with the dress. The shawl is the Souvenir Shawl by Maria Samuelsson on Ravelry. It’s a great pattern to use up a skein of yarn that just had to be purchased on vacation (better a skein of yarn than a t-shirt, right?)

It’s a 100% self-made outfit! I love it when people say, “I like your dress!” or, “I like your scarf!” At which point I say, “Thanks, I made it!”

What yarn is this, you might ask? It is Dream in Color Smooshy with Cashmere in the February 2020 Pop Up colorway. I bought this when The Loopy Ewe lady was retiring and had a big sale. But don’t worry because The Loopy Ewe lives on! Visit their site, help a new owner of a previously loved LYS by grabbing some yarn!

Free Knitting Patterns

Jackson Prairie Scarf

nancyknit4 Comments

I’ve been eyeing some stray skeins of bulky yarn in my stash.  What to do with them?  Hmmmm…how about a scarf, a crazy sort of scarf in garter stitch where I change yarn every row?  That sounds scrappy!  So here’s a scrappy end to end scarf called Jackson Prairie Scarf:

Scarf Size:  72” long and 6½” wide

What is Jackson Prairie?

When we moved back to Indiana, we bought 3.5 acres of a cornfield and built a house. An entire chunk of land around there was a treeless area where farmers planted crops. The township was called “Jackson” and the area north of “Sand Hill,” east of the Pigeon River Wildlife Area. A local historian worked at my school as the librarian. His uncle had a farm south of Sand Hill. He said that Native Americans used to keep this area as grazing for wildlife, so deer would be easy to see and track. That’s Jackson Prairie!

(p.s.  The hat is an entirely different story.  Changing yarn every row means it’s impossible to knit in the round, making not only a seamed hat, but a hat that has many ends to work in. I didn’t write a pattern for that one!)

Jackson Prairie Scarf

Jackson Prairie ScarfDownload
Free Knitting Patterns

Bulky and Warm Neck Wrap

nancyknit4 Comments

Materials: 2 Skeins Lion Brand Thick & Quick yarn, size 17 needles (if you know that your gauge is loose use a smaller needle like 13’s or 15’s), 1 tapestry needle, 1 extra large button.

Pattern: Cast on 17 stitches. ROW 1 and all rows: Slip the first stitch purlwise, k1,p1 across the row until 2 stitches are left, k1, k last stitch in the back of the stitch.  Knit this row until 33″ in length.

BUTTONHOLE ROW:  Work first 8 stitches of row in moss stitch pattern, cast off 2 stitches, work in pattern until the end of the row.  NEXT ROW:  Work until cast-off stitches, cast on 2 stitches, work until end of row.

Work for 2″ beyond the buttonhole, and then bind off loosely.  Weave in all loose ends, choose a cool button and sew it on.  On the green scarf, I sewed the button on so the ends overlap.  On the black scarf, I sewed the button on so the scarf ends meet at a 90 degree angle.  Enjoy this pattern!  It only takes a few hours to knit 🙂

I’ve just updated this pattern (Nov. 26, 2011) because I am knitting a few of these for my nieces for Christmas and I discovered that I didn’t have enough yarn with just one ball to finish the wrap.  So, I purchased a second ball.  I’m pretty sure that Lion Brand changed the yardage in the Wool-ease Thick & Quick yarn…in their favor.

Bulky & Warm Neck Wrap

Bulky & Warm Neck WrapDownload