A very long scarf

I gave all the other scarves away, then Samantha was looking for them, so I made her one.It's "shag" from Lynne Barr's Knitting New Scarves. However I couldn't get the triangles all on the same side of the scarf, don't know why.
This one is around 6ft long, at least as Samantha said she wanted a long scarf.
The photo is a little blurry. The yarn is Brushstrokes by Stylecraft, the colourway is Storm Cloud.

Shag gone wrong....whoops!

Here's my first attempt at Shag. The triangles are on alternate sides. I knitted in a variegated double knit so that I could see exactly what the pattern was doing. I think this particular pattern would look good in place of a button band on a cardigan to "glam" it up. Obviously in a "pretty" yarn.

Am having lots of fun with the book.

Shaggy Delights

I'm pleased to say my Shag is finally finished! Like all of the scarves in this book, it's the new techniques that got me hooked. I'm not really a garter stitch kind of gal and yet the simplicity of the garter or stockinette (which is often in the round so technically it's still just a knit stitch) lets the architecture shine through.

For more details and thoughts on this project you can go to my blog Tante J's Adventures in Knitting. The final analysis is in today's post and there are some nice progress shots a couple of posts earlier.

Pink Shag scarf and a bonus

Hi everyone,

I finished my pink Shag scarf on Feb 13th, and I wore it on Valentine’s Day!

My friend gave me 2 skeins of Patons SWS in Natural Berry. I usually don’t chose pink myself, but it turned out to be a cute girly scarf and I love it!

I made it shorter than the book said, 37 inches long, but just right for the warm L.A. winter. The yarn was made from 70% wool and 30% soy… I guess soy is a new material for yarn.

I had a little leftover yarn, so I decided to make a mini hat Christmas tree ornament. A great way to use a small amount of yarn--and never too many ornaments!


I was thinking the next thing I’ll knit from this book is “Black Pearls”. I haven’t seen any posts for Black Pearls in the knitalong yet… anyone tried?

Sunny

Curving Shags

I've had a couple of enquiries from new joiners about the fact that the Shag they're trying to knit has developed a curve.
The first time I started Shag, I found that it curved and I worked out that it was because I wasn't counting rows properly and was sometimes picking up on the same edge as the previous flap instead of the opposite side - the flaps should go / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ but I was going / / / which makes one edge curl, as shown above.
This is how the underside should look:Tante J has some much better photos below that illustrate this. The trick is always to count your rows properly or, failing that, always to do an uneven number of rows between casting off and picking up.

Shagalicious

You people have really gotten to me. In a good way of course! I never really thought about making Shag until I joined the group and saw the funky Shags you were churning out. So I jumped on the bandwagon!

Using a beloved yarn from my stash, I had to modify once again as it really wants to be knit up on 4mm needles. So I upped the CO to 19 and the rows to 23. I may be taking a bit more time, but I am very happy with the results.

The length of Shag, about 50% complete

Shag, from the back

Shag, close up

more of the colorway

And I am still working on New Wave. It's about 35-40% done.

For more details on my adventures with these scarves, you can see my personal blog, Tante J's Adventures in Knitting.

Picking Up Stitches

Andersox is getting gaps where she picks up the stitches with Shag. This scarf can look quite different in different yarns, but I don't think I've got any gaps so far.
The only Shag I still have on the premises is one that I knitted with Noro Silk Garden and I've photographed both sides of a flap.
Lynne suggests in the book that you can use a smaller needle to pick up the stitches: I didn't find this necessary but it could be handy.

Sometimes when you knit the first row it can look a bit stretched, but once you've moved on that closes up, and once you're finished altogether the flaps tend to relax anyway, so it should be all right.

If you still have gaps, Andersox, can you post some photos?

For those of you who are new to Knitting New Scarves, the pattern for Shag is available free here. It's the most irresistible scarf I've knitted since the curly wurly of a couple of years ago: I've knitted four already.

Shag-a-delic

I'm using Berocco Comfort yarn to knit up Shag. I'm not happy with the way the picked up stitches leave a gap along the diagonal, but I'm going to finish it anyway.

Great book!

So nice to be a part of this new knitalong...I just finished a Shag scarf using Blue Sky Suri Merino in a gorgeous terra-cotta color and love how it looks with my green winter jacket. A great way to break up the winter blahs.

The scarf was very easy and satisfying to knit, with lots of quick progress. Next up will be another of the 3D scarves...hmmmm....

Feedback

I've been getting some satisfying feedback from the people I gave scarves to for Christmas. The recipient of the pink Tilted Blocks said she opened the parcel and thought, 'Well, that isn't going to work,' but when she put it on, it did.

The silvery blue Aria has gone to Paris with its new owner to see in the New Year.

I didn't finish the Tahoe Shag until well after Christmas, yesterday I think. It took one ball of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport in the shade Lake Tahoe and it's about 52 inches long, but I think it'll stretch in wear.

Sylvester can be seen modelling it here. It can be worn hanging, or knotted once, or en jabot like Vivienne.

I liked the daintiness of this one but I don't think it really occurred to me that as the yarn made smaller flaps, it would take me much longer to knit the length I wanted. Doh. How long have I been knitting?

The colours are lovely anyway.

I haven't heard from the recipient of the Manos Shag yet, and the recipient of the green Tilted Blocks was so overwhelmed by the earrings I gave her that she forgot to mention the scarf.




And did anyone give me a scarf? Well, they did, but it wasn't a knitted one so that's all right.

First New Scarf---Shag

Bought some hand-dyed silk chenille and decided it would be interesting for Shag. No pictures yet, but have done 1 1/2 squares so far. Washed the swatch to see if it would fluff up before I make a final decision on which needles to use.

I am very excited about finally getting started on this KAL

A Shortened Shag

The 90 grammes of Debbie Bliss 'Maya' I had gave me a 32" scarf, which I think is still very wearable as a jabot with a brooch.

I used 6.5 mm needles (6 mm gave me too firm a fabric), and this took from the 22nd of November to the 12th of December, although it would have been much quicker if I hadn't been working on several other projects at the same time. It was very straightforward to knit; the only difficulty I had was picking up stitches evenly across the rectangles, and practice soon perfected that. I'm thinking of Meandering Stripes next with some dark charcoal and light grey aran weight I have lying around.

Tilted Blocks, Etc.

I've finished the pink Tilted Blocks and I'm about to wrap it up so that I can post it tomorrow.The colour isn't at all right in this photograph, but it's my last chance for a picture. The real colour is much more pink, and less violet.

Much more like this, except that the scarf isn't blurred.

I've also taken the opportunity to photograph all the New Scarves I've done, as most of them are leaving my hands tomorrow.


I have, you will not be surprised to learm, already cast on another Shag, in Lorna's Laces Lake Tahoe, although it occurred to me tonight that I might have miscounted and this one might be extra. We'll see.

Thanks for the Thoughts

Thanks for the thoughts about the Meandering Not Stripes. I still think the tweed doesn't show up the structure enough, and anyway it looks better in stripes (fancy that!) because they show off the structure too. I was looking at the Tilted Squares I already did and decided to do that again, because it's a fun shape, and I am putting to the back of my mind the thought that the recipient would really like Shag. Still, I don't have to decide just yet, because I am still busy with the second Noro Shag. I'm still endlessly fascinated by the colour changes. Oh good, there's a turquoise bit coming up, I think.

Another Shag, and Another

I finished another Shag, this time in Noro Silk Garden. It's shade 47. I've wanted to make one in graduated yarn ever since I saw Wendi's here. The colours are all naturals, grey, brown, charcoal and a lovely gingery shade. Who would have thought brown could be so interesting?
It took slightly less than two balls, and is 51 inches long. This is the back, looking very dinosaurish and scaly... but in a good way.

And guess what I did when I'd finished? Cast on another one, this time in Silk Garden 236? Surely not?

I'm sorry the photograph isn't very good, but we only had about ten minutes of daylight today, and I missed it.

The pink wriggly thing is my 17-row counter. I have proved incapable of turning a revolving row counter consistently, and of marking five-bar gates, but even I can't miss this.

I am toying with the idea of flicking some of the flaps, but haven't quite worked up the nerve yet, so these all face the front.

shag, in blue max

Here is my attempt at the Shag scarf, done in a chunky Lang M.A.X. (50% wool, 50% acrylic) I had lying around in the stash.
I went up to a 6.5mm needle in order to have a less-stiff fabric.
It took me a few squares to understand the concept, but then it went quite quickly after that.

If I had more of the yarn, then I would have kept knitting for a longer scarf.
I think I likely flipped a square the wrong way a few times, but I am happy with the final result.
It's very warm on one's neck!

Yes, I am likely to try this again in other yarns in future.

Lisa in Toronto

Getting Started

Hello all. I've been happily browsing the book since it arrive a few days ago, trying to decide where to start. I decided to ease myself in gently with 'Shag', using a very nearly complete ball of left over Debbie Bliss 'Maya' (since it worked so well for Helen). Apologies for the poor photo - dark green is never easy to photograph well, and artificial light really doesn't help. This is my second attempt, the first having been ripped out late at night because it didn't look right, and I was too tired to work out why. So far this time it's going smoothly, although it's mystifying my husband.

I have also set myself the challenge of seeing how many scarves I can knit from the book without buying new yarn. I'm afraid the answer may well be "most of them".

My "Leafy Shag" scarf and a Linked Rib

Hi, all. I recently finished a Shag scarf, using the new Debbie Mumm Traditions yarn. It's annoying yarn, but the results are pretty. I really like how the pattern looks with variegated yarn. It was a very easy knit. Mine is pretty short, but I think it would also look great if it was extra long.

I'm currently working on the Linked Rib scarf and I am liking that pattern a lot! I'm 18" into it so far, doing one pattern repeat each day, so I should be done in a couple of weeks at that rate.

The only problem with it is that I seem to be going through yarn faster than expected, so it might be shorter than I'd hoped. But we will see.

Shag Scarf

The first scarf I made from the book was the Shag Scarf. I started it rather carelessly and didn't count my rows properly, so it formed a curve and I had to go back to the beginning and concentrate properly. Once I'd made a row counter and paid attention to what I was doing, it was a fast and satisfying knit.

I often get a bit bored with garter stitch, and resentful of how much yarn it eats up, but I was so absorbed in picking up the stitches and forming the flaps that it flew by.

The yarn is Debbie Bliss's Maya (Soho in the U.S.). The colours are very subtle and are really shown off well because the scarf has so many edges. It's heavier than the prescribed yarn, so the scarf is wider and altogether more solid than anticipated but it still looks good, not out of scale. I made it a bit longer too.

I would like to make it in a very bright yarn next time and am mentally thumbing through my stash for the right yarn. I'm really looking forward to finding out what it looks like in other yarns from the other members of this knitalong.

This is a view of the back. More, and more pictures, on my blog.