Hi, friends! Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day! I hope you have a moment today to reflect on Dr. King’s life and legacy… I’m so glad we have a day designated to do just that. Sadly, I’m not just celebrating today– I headed back to work for the first time in over two weeks (I can’t complain… but I really want to). So, to brighten up my day, I’ll share another me-made Christmas gift!
Here’s the backstory for this guy– I gave my mom a ball of yarn for Christmas (the insanely soft and lovely Madelinetosh Tosh Merino in Cove) with the idea that she could choose an accessory for me to make her. She asked for a narrow scarf that she could wear inside and out, and liked the idea of cables. So I decided to use the cable pattern from the Vancouver Fog Mitts on Ravelry (a free download, btw!) and sandwich it between garter edges to make a cute little scarf!
I cast on 20 stitches and knit 4 rows of garter stitch, then I knit a 3-stitch garter tab, worked the 14-stitch cable pattern, and knit another 3 stitches in garter. I basically knit until I ran out of yarn, knit another 4 rows of garter, and cast off. Easy as could be! It was super satisfying to knit, because with only 20 stitches in a row, it seems to leap magically off your needles!
Look at her-- she can't hide her dark side! You know she'd cut a man for lookin' at her cross-eyed!
I blocked this the night before I had to drive back to NYC, so snapped these pics of my poor ma modelling it at 6:30am (hence the awesome purple bathrobe). She wanted to model, though, and was a good sport about it. I should have shot some closeups, but it was dark and we were running around packing the car like lunatics and just couldn’t spare the time.
What are you guys up to today/this week? Anything fun on the horizon? I finally got all my fabric prewashed, rolled, and organized– whew! I feel SO MUCH BETTER! I’ll share some photos with you guys when I finally get everything taken care of.
Ginger Makes... 
Your mum is soo cute ! I am loving the scarf too – the cable is awesome !|I want to try and knit a good cable. I also knitted for my Ma for Christmas – an infinity scarf in turquoise wool but I didn’t get to snap a pic ! Well done you sorting your fabrics – I really need to do that, especially the pre-washing ! What are you gonna make next ? xx
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She is, isn’t she? 🙂 I’m trying to will myself to finish stuff I’ve already started (no fun!), so I’m seaming my Aidez sweater right now and need to finish my Christmas Peony dress. Cables are so much easier to knit than I had ever realized– you can totally do it! 🙂
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That’s a sweet scarf and lovely colour. Cables scare me, But you make it sound so easy. I do really love the cabling. Maybe knitting something narrow like this is a good way to learn and grow cable confidence?
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They’re very simple, actually– I was super intimidated by them, particularly by charts! But the basic principle of cabling is that you just knit your stitches out of order– say, slip one stitch onto a needle and hold it to the back of your work, then knit a stitch, and then go back to the one you’re holding to the back. Something small would be a great way to get a little cable mojo brewing! Oh, and don’t worry about picking up special cable needles– a dpn works fine and dandy! I would just recommend working from written instructions rather than a chart for your first cabled project– it’s way easier to keep track of what you’re doing that way!
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Beautiful! I think you made a great choice on color too – it really compliments your mom’s coloring.
I think you’ll be really happy once you’ve finished your Aidez, even though putting it together isn’t the most fun (well, for most people – I kind of like it, but I’m weird that way). It’s going to be the perfect sweater for knocking around in all winter long.
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My mom has green/blue eyes, and they really look a lot like that color!
You know, I’ve always avoided seaming because it’s so much work (the one time I did it was for a men’s sweater vest, and it was super tedious), but I really enjoyed doing it for the Aidez. I knit the body in the round, so all I had to do was join the sleeve seams, but I discovered that the sleeves are way too tight, so I picked up stitches under the arms and knit an extra panel for the sleeves. So I have to seam two edges for each sleeve instead of one, and I have one down and one left to go. Then I gotta fix my stupid Christmas dress… blerg…
Looking forward to seeing your Still Light!!
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That cable scarf is gorgeous! I agree that a narrow cable scarf would be a good intro to cable knit. Your mum is lovely, even in her bathrobe! I’m working on the Macaron dress at the moment. It’s been a bit of an epic, not all of it down to me – I’m sure the waistband pattern piece doesn’t match up to everything else. In I was just looking to see if I could find anything online about installing a side zipper. No luck so far.
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Thanks very much! Ooh, best of luck with the Macaron! It’s such a lovely pattern– between the sweetheart neckline and the pleated skirt, it’s going to look killer on you! It’s super frustrating, though, when pieces don’t match up right– I had that issue with my Lonsdale dress (waistband was almost 2″ shorter than everything else, so I ended up shaving the rest of the bodice to fit it and it just fit!). I’ve only installed a side zipper once– I put it in just like a zipper at the CB. I was supposed to leave a little bit of a seam above the zipper (probably to avoid irritating your underarm), but I couldn’t get into and out of it without being able to unzip it all the way open. I hope you’re able to find some good info and finish without more frustration!
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Ooooh, nice scarf. And your mom look so cute! I’ve been seeing a lot of patterns that call for that yarn and I want to try it .. is it buttery soft to work with?
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It is! I don’t usually spring for higher-end yarn, but it’s really nice and the colors are beautiful!
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So sweet! Your mom is adorbs! Oh, and I didn’t mention it in the last post, but hilarious that your boss bought you a sewing book 🙂
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She’s almost criminally cute! 🙂 I know, right– it’s super funny that I’m immediately identifiable as the office sewing geek (I’m the only girl, too, so I’m a total pariah)! My coworkers were cheering me on with the bridesmaid dress fiasco in November– too funny!
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love the scarf, looks cosy but light at the same time.
and how good is you mam to model at such an unearthly hour!!!
first time i ever followed a knitting pattern was to make a cabled scarf – I used part of a jumper/sweater pattern that had a cable running down through the middle – they’re soo satisfying as a beginner when you realise they’re working 🙂
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Wow, you were a bold beginner! But you’re right, cables are totally satisfying! You feel like a magician when you see how easy they are to produce!
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