Happy Three Days After Christmas!

Well, throughout the Christmas holidays...well, really beginning on the 24th...I worked on a quick scarf. I got the pattern from a lady at work last week (the week before Christmas week, that is). Since then, she's been frequently asking me if I was going to make a scarf from that pattern. She brought one in that her mom had made her a few years ago as an example. The directions sound odd, so she wanted to show me the final product.

Don't get me wrong, the pattern is super easy, but they just sound odd. As you can see to the right, this is the finished product. I finished it this evening. It didn't take long to complete either - which is always nice.

I used less than 1 ball/skein of Bernat Satin yarn (from the stash) in the sage colourway, and 5mm DPNs.

There is no name given on the instructions, aside from saying "Scarf" at the top, so I would like to name it The Tube Scarf. Why, might you ask? Well, it's because you knit the scarf on 3 DPNs. I have no idea where the pattern originated (the lady didn't say), so there could be a name for it already, as well as directions somewhere on the net. However, I'm going to be nice and include the copy of directions I have:

The Tube Scarf

Cast on 24 stitches and divide evenly on three DPNs.

Knit all around for 6 rows.

Row 7: YO, K1 all the way around (48 stitches on needles at this point)

Continue knitting all stitches until you reach desired length (approx. 20-21 inches).

Next Row: Drop 1 stitch, K1, drop 1, K1 entire way around (24 stitches on needles at this point).

Knit these 24 stitches for 6 rows.

Bind off.

Carefully pull so that the dropped stitches "fall" to the bottom of the scarf. This should cause your scarf to double in length.

Sew ends and add fringe.

Here is a closeup of the stitches after they've been pulled:

The scarf, as I said, is very easy to knit. I didn't see how dropping the stitches at the end and then pulling the scarf would cause the length to double, but it did. The only thing I can think of, is that by pulling the yarn it is stretching it which would cause it to double in length. It's simply amazing - at least to me it is. I knit for about the 20 inches, and didn't use up the entire ball of yarn...though I probably should have so I wouldn't have the remainder lying around the house.

So, aside from this scarf, I've been working on a pair of mittens for myself out of Briggs & Little yarn. I'm on the second mitten (been working on these at breaks and lunch at work), but they don't take too long. Hopefully I'll have them finished before the end of the month so I can add them to my "Finished in '08" list.

Not much else going on. Christmas was quiet, but didn't seem quite the same without Dad being here. We made it through fine though. My younger brother and his family didn't make it up because he had to work Christmas Eve and Boxing Day. They live about three hours away and didn't want to make the trip in one day, especially in case there was some bad weather - he didn't want to end up getting stuck here and not be able to make it to work. My other brother and his wife were here for supper, and Mom invited an old friend of hers and her husband. So, things went pretty well, which I'm glad for.

In case I don't get to post before New Years, I hope you all have a safe and joyous 2009 - and lots of knitting, too!