Almost Crafty

Just in time for 88 degree days, I have a finished scarf! Figures.

Project: Vintage Velvet Scarf, (Ravelry Link) by Lisa Daniels from Scarf Style

Yarn: 4 balls of Muench “Touch Me” in Mustard (72% Rayon microfiber; 28% Wool) on #8 needles.

I won 4 balls of this yarn 2 years ago at a raffle at Arcadia Knitting in Chicago. In fact, I started this way back in 2006, and it sat in hibernation for well over a year and a half. I’m glad I pulled it out and finished it, because it’s a beautiful scarf.

Part of the beauty is in the felting. Normally, I don’t/can’t felt projects, because I don’t have access to my own washing machine, just a shared, coin-operated machine in our basement. However, this pattern described a simple, efficient way to felt the scarf in a zippered pillowcase with a full load of laundry. I had a load of sheets to wash, so I put the scarf in a zippered pillowcase, threw it in the wash, and hoped for the best.

Luckily, it worked perfectly. It didn’t over felt (not that it could, conisidering the low wool content) but felted just enough to give it a weathered, vintage, crushed velvet look and feel. I hung it over our shower rod to let it air dry, and the weight of the water stretched it longer than I thought it would, making it just a few inches shy of a perfect scarf length.

As it is, I’ll probably wear this as an indoor scarf accessory rather than a cold weather necessity. It’s definitely not a color I would have chosen for myself, but all finished up I think it looks like gold, rather than mustard. More jewelry-like than condiment-y.

For the curious, here are comparison pictures of the scarf before and after felting:

The difference is subtle in the photos, but you can definitely see the “aged” look in the post-felting picture.

I’d love to make this scarf again in a different color, using the suggested 5 balls of yarn instead of 4. But a quick search online shows that this yarn retails for about $15 each (!) so I think I’ll wait until I win some more in another raffle somewhere.

You never know, it could happen.

You’d think that with this long pause in updates, that I’ve stopped crafting all together.

Not true!

I’ve been sewing and knitting, and I even started seaming one of the Babette Blankets. So much craftiness has been going on. However, there haven’t been many pictures. Since posts without pictures are less exciting, I just haven’t posted at all.

No, wait! I did manage to take one picture of an almost finished object - my Vintage Velvet scarf. Here it is lounging on our sofa, waiting to be felted:

This yarn is so incredibly soft, but SO incredibly wormy. I could have enjoyed this scarf without felting, but the way this yarn is felted is so much simpler (for me) than typical felting, I had to give it a try. More on that when I am able to take a final, felted photo.

In other news, my mom and dad visited Chicago for the first time in years, and the weather managed to cooperate each and every day of their visit. We had a great time, and I was really sorry to see them leave. 

OK, that’s what’s been going on in the weeks since I’ve posted. Next time - more photos!