Update!

Where have I been? Gosh, my blogging was going so well until I found out I was pregnant. Surprise! We weren't really expecting this, but we are very happy. I'm due around April 18th of 2008. (My husband's birthday!) For the first few weeks of the pregnancy I was overcome with nausea. Then around week 10 I got a terrible cold that turned into bronchitis and an ear infection. So, needless to say, I haven't touched any knitting in weeks. Morning sickness and knitting is not a good combination. I'm finally starting to feel better on both counts. My bronchitis is finally getting better and so is the nausea. I'm ready to finish Clapotis and get moving on Lizard Ridge again. After that...baby stuff!

My dog has also greatly improved. We certainly thought about putting her down many times. She was so ill. We had a three week window for the predisone to take over and for her to improve. She's done remarkably well on the medicine. Now, we are weaning her to a low maintenance dose.

Let's see...what else is new? The other day my husband walks in the door holding a gray hissing blob in his arms. It's none other than a stray cat. Great....just what we need. Someone had (more than likely) dumped her at the gas station where he found her. I wasn't very thrilled with the idea of another animal in the house. I told him that we'll give her a couple of days to see what she's like, then decide if we are going to keep her or not. Luckily it was warm out so we were able to keep her in our screened porch for the first day and night. It turns out she is a great little cat. She's probably less than a year old. She's playful, sweet, and has really made herself at home. She still doesn't like the dog, but she's getting braver.

Oh.....and after a 2 month wait I finally got on to Ravelry.com . Too bad I was too sick to check it out much. Today I finally added some of my finished projects. What a fun place this is going to be!

So, that's it for now. I'm looking forward to knitting regularly again. We'll probably find out the gender of this baby so I will know if I need to buy blue or pink yarn. :)

State Fair Photos!

So, as you may remember, I wasn't able to meet the deadline to enter my Lizard Ridge afghan in the state fair. It would have been a great idea if I had started the afghan in April or May. My Mom, Jon, Jack and I headed out to the fair last Friday morning. The weather was gorgeous. We headed right to the Creative Activities building. I took a breath and said a prayer that no one entered a Lizard Ridge this year. My mom walks in ahead of me and immediately says, "Oh, Brooke, there's your blanket." Well, pooey, so much for that. Prominently displayed in one of the cases was a Lizard Ridge afghan with a blue ribbon. Congrats to Debra on a job well done. The afghan was made in panels instead of squares. I thought some of the short row wraps looked a little sloppy and bumpy. Yes, I was secretly thinking to myself that my afghan would have smoked this one. I know...what a poor sport I am. Kudos to Debra for finishing on time and for taking home a blue ribbon.

One of the most beautifully finished pieces was Susan Rainey's sweater. (Everything is displayed behind glass, so please excuse the picture quality.) The pattern, yarn, stitches...everything looked perfect. The lace shawl below was also very well done. The quality of the work overall was very nice. Some of the sweaters were just stunning.

Of course it wouldn't be the state fair if the sock monkey knitter didn't make another appearance! The sock monkey dresses were on display last year. New this year was the sock monkey chair. Wow, someone has a serious obsession.

Interweave Knits Hunt

Am I the last person to get a copy of the Fall issue of Interweave Knits? I had to go to about 5 different places before I finally found one. Jo-Ann Fabric only had 2 left! The yarn stores were sold out before it was even officially "on newstands". Well, the wait was worth it. There are some beautiful sweaters and cardigans in this one. I love the Hedgerow Coat, and Cinnabar, and the Tangled Yoke Cardigan. I was thinking about making the Cobblestone pullover for my hubby, but I'm not so sure it would look good on him.

After a short time away I've finished 2 more Lizard Ridge squares. I'll post pics when they are blocked...they photograph so much better that way. I'm happy to be knitting these again. There's something very satisfying about finishing each little square and seeing how it looks next to all the others.

My mom is in town this week, so this entry will be short.

Good News and a FO!

My sundress/swimsuit cover-up for my sister is done! Yeah. My sister came to visit over the weekend, so last week I was busy making my deadline. She really liked the sundress and it looked so cute on her. Look for pictures soon. (I'm waiting on her to e-mail them to me). Now I just need to decide what to start on next!

Quick update on my dog Sadie: Last Friday her platelets were still terribly low. She was diagnosed with immune-mediated thromobocytopenia. We increased her medicine and rechecked her platelets today. I'm so happy to report that they increased quite a bit. It looks like she might be ok. We will continue the meds and continue to check her platelets for many weeks.

Tough Times

Last Wednesday, as all of you know, the 35-W bridge collapsed over the Mississippi River. Not since 9/11 has anything put such a pit in my stomach. It's certainly amazing that the loss of life wasn't larger. My prayers are with all those who lost loved ones and who suffered an injury. Since I live in a suburb of Minneapolis this isn't a bridge I traveled very often. This weekend was the first time since the collapse that I went out on the highways. I have to admit feeling a bit nervous. It will certainly be interesting to watch how things unfold with the clean-up, investigation, and rebuilding. Just yesterday they opened up a bridge downriver from the site. We might go out there and have a look today or tomorrow.

Yesterday I had to take our dog, Sadie, to the vet. The pupil in her left eye was completely gone. Her eye was just a red hazy glow. I knew something was terribly wrong. After some quick blood work the doc determined that she has a platelet disorder. Her platelet level was 3 when it should be about 250. This can be caused by a number of things including mouse poison, cancer or an autoimmune disease. We have her on 3 different medicines. The good news is that her eye is looking much better this morning. We'll re-check her platelets on Friday to see if she is responding well to the medicine. Hopefully she'll be alright. She's really a great dog.

In better news...I finished my first bear for Mother Bear Project! I think he turned out really cute. My next bear is almost done. This time I made a girl bear with a skirt. I'll post her picture when she is finished. These bears are really fun to make. I'm having a blast experimenting with different stitch patterns and design elements.

So Much News

First up is a pic of my 12 finished blocks. I'm so pleased with how the afghan is shaping up. My husband said, "are you going to take new pictures every time you finish a block?" Well, dear, the answer is yes! It's so fun to see how the blocks look together. For the first bit of news I decided that I just can't finish the afghan in time for the fair. I really want to enjoy the knitting and not be so rushed. I was also running very low on Kureyon. I placed an order with Webs (http://www.yarn.com/) on Friday and I got it on Monday. That is amazing service. I put a note in the order that I needed the yarn ASAP and asked if they could send it priority mail. I will definately use them again! I'm a little disappointed that I won't finish in time for the fair. When I'm done with the afghan I'll go out and buy myself a blue ribbon for finishing such a big project!

The other big news is that I am the new volunteer webmaster for Mother Bear Project. This is a great organization that delivers hand-knit bears to children in Africa. To the left you can see my unfinished bear. The bears are easy to make, only use a small amount of yarn, and bring so much joy to the children. I encourage all the knitters out there to donate to this wonderful cause.

Lizard Ridge Progress

So far I have 8 squares blocked and I'm blocking 4 more tonight. I can't believe I'm halfway done with my squares...yeah! The squares have been a lot of fun to make. As with most knitting projects, though, there have been some frustrations along the way. The "thick and thin" nature of Kureyon can be a pain at times and sometimes the color repeats just aren't quite long enough. Will I finish in time for the State Fair? Well, I'm going to really have to speed up the pace. So far I am about 3 squares shy of where I should be to finish on time. Each square takes me about 4 hours to finish. I need to knit for almost 7 hours a day for the next week to finish the last 12 squares. That will leave me 12 days for seaming, edging, and blocking. I'll keep pressing on and see where I am after this weekend.

I found a cheap alternative to the $80 blocking boards that I've seen online. Joann Fabrics had this "Super Board" for $14.99. It is just cardboard material and therefore not very waterproof. I put clear contact paper over the top of the whole thing to solve that problem. So, for around $20 bucks I have a huge 72" x 36" blocking board. You can also see my other new toy, my Ott-lite. I'm so glad I got the little portable one instead of the floor lamp. (Maybe Santa will bring me one of those) Michaels and Jo-Ann both carry these lamps. Wait till they are on sale, or use a coupon, because the retail price is ridiculous. The bright, white light the lamp emits is wonderful. I can actually see what I'm doing now. They are worth every penny (as long as you use your 40% off coupon).

Did I mention I get distracted easily?

The Minnesota State Fair has gotten me all distracted. We go every year and enjoy seeing the sights, people watching, and eating various things on a stick (the pickle on a stick and key lime pie on a stick are my faves). My favorite place to go is the Creative Arts building which houses beautiful quilts, needlework, and lots of knitting. For some reason this year I really have the urge to enter something. I thought about entering my dragon scarf but it's now in "used" condition. Then I thought about Lizard Ridge. Even though I have less than a month to finish, I'm going to give it a try. I just finished my 8th block. I have a timeline all set so I can meet the August 14th deadline. I need to knit at least 1.5 blocks a day through August 1st. That will leave me two weeks for seaming, edging, and blocking. I have six new skeins of Kureyon all ready to go. Six of my squares are blocked and they look amazing. The pictures of these afghans just do not do them justice.

The pattern modifications for the sundress are on indefinite hold. I'll finish them as soon as I can!

Sundress: Progress and Frustration

I'm making good progress on the sundress. I have 19" complete and just a few inches left! I want to go into more detail about the problem with the decreases in this pattern. A few of the stockinette sections decrease from bottom to top for a nice slimming effect. The pattern is written with some of the decreases placed in the center of these sections. The sheen of the yarn makes these little k2tog bumps very noticeable. There are also ssk decreases in other stockinette sections that look really bad as well. Over the next few days I'm going to rewrite a few lines of the pattern so that these decreases will be much less visible. The pattern itself isn't written wrong...it could just be written better. If I'm going to spend 40+ hours knitting something I'd rather have a garment that I'm proud to give away. For me it's too late on this project. I'm not going to frog all this work. After all...it is just a swimsuit cover-up. But given how obvious the decreases are, and how simple it is to improve the pattern, I'll take a little time to post the modifications. Look for them soon!

Surfing fun

I love the internet. You can just keep digging away following links until you have no idea how you ended up somewhere or how you ended up with 10 tabs/windows open. I was about six degrees of separation away from http://www.knittyboard.com/ when I found this: http://www.ravelry.com/ All I have to say is WOW and you must check this out. I hope they have huge servers because when they go live they are going to be busy. So what is Ravelry? Well, say you bought 4 skeins of Rowan Calmer on sale and added it to your stash without much thought. Weeks later when you have time for a new project you remember the Calmer in your stash. Now you need a pattern. You can go to Ravelry and pull up the yarn by name and see what other people have made with it. You can find pics of finished garments, blog posts describing projects, etc. all in one spot. This is just the tip of the iceberg. Check out all the great features here! This will be a great site.

Finished Squares

I have made good progress on the afghan. I have 3 blocks completed with the new garter stitch edges. The top left block I still need to redo. So far, this has been a very interesting project. Working with the color changes is challenging and fun. I was really unsure about block #164. It seemed like a cross between baby poo and split pea soup. It is starting to grow on me now, though. Block #182 has been redone from the original pattern design. You can now see what it looks like with the garter stitch modification. So far block #40 is my favorite. I could see doing a whole bedspread in this colorway. It's beautiful! Click on the pics to enlarge.



I'm getting excited to cast on my Clapotis, so I'll be working pretty hard on the sundress over the next few days.

Lizard Ridge-Part II

Yesterday I had the pleasure of knitting with Bernadette St. Amant. She holds teaching clinics at various locations in the metro. She is an amazing teacher with expert knowledge of knitting. She also designs for Malabrigo....what can be better than that? I went to her for advice on Lizard Ridge. I wanted to see what my options were for seaming and to see how my short rows were coming along. I also had her look at the sundress I'm working on. I always learn new things when I attend her sessions. I noticed my decreases in the sundress were very noticeable. I knew the sheen of the yarn would make them show up more, but I wondered why the designer had placed them right in the middle of the stockinette sections. A quick check with Bernadette and she agreed that they could have easily been placed at the beginning of the stockinette section instead of the center. So, the more I knit, the more I will start to trust my own instincts. Patterns might be written accurately, but they may not be "optimized".

I was very excited to show Bernadette what I had learned so far with the Lizard Ridge afghan. I did my own experiments with yarn-over short rows and really liked how they turned out. She said she usually recommends this method. I did find out that I am not knitting backwards...but actually purling backwards, since I am doing this with the purl side facing me. She showed me how to knit backwards from the knit side...but it just confused me and felt awkward. By this time I'd had about 16 hours practice purling backwards and had gotten pretty comfortable with it. My brain and hands had also memorized which direction to go for the short row section. So, I will continue to purl backwards on the short row sections. I might even place a video on the blog showing how I do it.

Now to seaming... I told Bernadette that I didn't want big bulky seams and that I would prefer to do the squares rather than panels. (I really like the patchwork look of the individual squares.) She said I can't have my cake and eat it too. Edge-to-edge seaming is out of the question given the weight of the afghan. My compromise is to knit a garter stitch border on either side. There are definately a few advantages to doing this. 1. There's no curling of the edges and they are nice and neat. 2. The seam should, in theory, be less bulky. To the left you can see a sample of the pattern with the garter stitch edge and garter stitch modification to add more definition to the block. I'm pleased with how this has turned out.

The block below I finished before I met with Bernadette. It does not have the garter stitch edge. I'll probably rip it out and re-do it later. It is colorway #209. It's so pretty!

Boredom leads to a new Obsession

I've grown tired of knitting purses, tired of felting, and tired of small projects. I feel the need to make something more substantial. Due to my busy work schedule, I was only able to start one new project between February and June... a Noni bag for my grandmother. A few weeks ago I heard my knitting bag call my name. After an uninspired search on the web I headed out to gather up the latest knitting mags from my LYS. This is where I found the sundress that I'm currently working on. Why is it that you can't ever be happy with just the project on your needles? As soon as my knitting senses kicked into high gear they were already thinking about the next project. "Hey, why not make an afghan?", they said. After searching the usual online haunts, I remembered the great Lizard Ridge pattern.

I first fell in love with Lizard Ridge when it appeared in Knitty last year. I printed it out and added it to my very thick knitting binder. I had no interest in knitting an afghan, but I loved the way the Kureyon colors exploded before your eyes. The nice thing about waiting to knit this pattern is that many people have had a chance to finish one. A quick google image search yielded lots of great photos of finished afghans. You can see the finished products here, or here, how about here, or even here. This one made with Paton's SWS shows a very suitable substitute yarn, but this non-Kureyon one just doesn't work for me. There's even the obligatory knit-a long.

This is just a small sample of all the Lizard Ridge information available. This afghan incorporates short row knitting to achieve the wonderful wavy shapes. For many knitters these short rows with wraps and turns can seem quite intimidating. As usual, the wonderful website http://www.knittinghelp.com/ has a great video to explain them. Here's another method of doing short rows that I plan to experiment with today. You can also learn how to "knit backwards" to avoid turning your work so frequently. The best explanation and video I found showing how to do this from the purl side is here. With every good pattern comes unique modifications. Click here for one of the best sites with lots of pictures, tips and modifications.

I hope this post will be helpful to those of you thinking about starting this beautiful afghan. So, without further ado.... here's my first Lizard Ridge Square.

New yarn!

I saw a post on Knitty about a yarn sale at Amazing Threads in Maple Grove. They had 35% off lots of different yarn including *some* of their Noro. I bought some Silk Garden Lite in colorway #2033. I got enough for Clapotis. I don't know how these colors will look either A) on me or B) as a Clapotis, but they are beautiful.




The only other project I could think of at the time is a Christmas present for my MIL. I want to make her a summery top. They had a few finished tops from Noro designed patterns in the store. So the hunt began for a good pattern and sale yarn to match. I came up with the one pictured to the right. It is made with Sakura. A really great Rayon/Poly/Nylon/Silk & Wool blend. I chose the fun colorway #5. My MIL looks great in lime green. As usual pictures just don't do the yarn justice. So, I had a fun and successful time shopping and I saved more than $40!

Knit.1 magazine "Sundress"

This is the sundress that I am working on for my sister. It is coming along nicely. You can find this in the sum-mer '07 edition of Knit.1 magazine. I'm using the Lion Brand Microspun yarn that it calls for in the colorway #158 Buttercup. I've read so many negative comments about this yarn, but it really isn't bad at all. It is very soft. It does have the tendency to split easily. To avoid this, just use dull tip needles like bamboo or Denise. I'm not having any trouble with splitting the yarn on my Denise's.

I hope the stockinette sections will flatten out a bit after blocking. (they are a bit wavy) I'm concerned that the decreases in the st-st are going to show too much as well. I'm sure my sister will like it either way!

Checking in....and work in progress

What a busy 5 months I have had! Our real estate business was really busy from January until mid-May. Things are starting to wind down for our slow season. Yes, June and July along with December are our slowest months. This is the first chance I've really had to think about knitting again. We took a road trip this Easter to Mississippi and I was able to start on another Noni bag. I just now finished that one for my grandmother. I've started on the sun dress (really more of a swimsuit cover-up) in knit.1 summer '07. I'm making this for my sister for her birthday. She's always going to Mexico for short beach weekends. I'm so happy to be knitting and playing with yarn again! I have a few more designs for kids in my little head and will try to get them down on paper by this fall/winter. I hope everyone is still enjoying the dragon scarf pattern!

Finally...Pictures

Here they are...still not 100% finished. First dress to the left in the heavy cotton and dress to the right in lighter weight cotton/acrylic blend. My crochet edge around the sleeves on the yellow dress is way too tight. I'm still looking for a way (non crochet) to edge the sleeves on the striped dress. Then I just need to add my knitted flower and I'll be done.

This is a photo of some of my thrift store finds. I love the yarn the pink sweater is made with. I can't wait to felt it. The other sweater is already pre-felted. I'm sure by mistake. And..I just couldn't resist the embroidery on the infant jeans for $1.50. I have a great purse in mind for the sweater and embroidered jeans. It'll be way too pre-teen for me, but I bet I can find some little girl who will love it. Top left is a little denim dress I plan to embellish somehow!?!? I'm trying to finish current projects and get reorganized. I have been very bad about starting a project before the next one is ALL the way done. I got a couple of really good books recently. The first one is Color Works: The Crafter's Guide to Color by Deb Menz. I'm the kind of person that can sit and stare at a wall of yarn for an hour and walk away with nothing. I love color, but have grown frustrated trying to coordinate certain projects. This book is simply amazing. I'm already looking at color so differently. It comes with color wheels you can remove from the book and take to the yarn store with you. It shows color examples in different crafts such as quilting, bead embroidery, knitting, spinning, etc. I highly recommend this book! The other book is from Indygo Junction. It's called Bag Boutique. There are some nice solid purse and tote designs here that can serve as a blank canvas for your own creative ideas. I need to ramp up my sewing skills....but I'm looking forward to giving these a try.

Thrift store finds, felting class and more

I got a chance this weekend to visit Crafty Planet in Minneapolis. What a cool store. They have a great yarn selection, tons of books, embroidery patterns, fabric and more. I'll definately visit them again. They also expressed interest in making a kit with my dragon scarf. That would be cool. Vickie Howell is going to be there on Feb. 16th before the big Knit Out event at Mall of America. My husband has such a crush on her...he has suddenly developed an interest in going to Crafty Planet too. Last weekend I took a class on felted flowers with two very talented ladies from Wisconsin. You can find their site here. They have 2 books coming out soon that are sure to be a hit with needlefelters. Check out their site for some very unusual embellishing techniques.Yesterday I hopped over to a local thrift store to search for wool sweaters to felt. I found two sweaters, a really cool scarf and a few demin items to practice some needle felting embellishment. I'll post some pics of my finds soon.

Ohhh...grams ARE important

There are so many things I still have to learn about knitting. My latest project taught me a few important lessons. It all started when I saw the adorable toddler dress found in the latest issue (April '07) of Knit N' Style magazine. I thought it would be perfect for Melissa's baby girl, Rowan, who had a birthday coming up. The pattern calls for about 400 yards of mercerized cotton. I substituted Plymouth Fantasy for the Schaefer Laurel that it called for. To make a long story short....the finished dress is very heavy. It feels like it weighs 2 pounds. But after reading the yarn label I realized that is mathematically impossible. I used a little over 3 skeins of yarn weighing 100 grams each. So, the dress weighs somewhere in the neighborhood of 325 grams or .7 pounds. I purchased the beautiful Kelly yarn, that I posted about previously, because I didn't like the way my tension looked and because the dress seemed heavy. The Kelly yarn (55% cotton 45% acrylic) weighs 50g per skein. I will end up using about 3.5 skeins for a total of 175 grams or .39 pounds. That's nearly half the weight! Not only is the weight better, but my tension is much more even with the cotton blend.

So, let this be a lesson to new knitters out there. If you want a light weight summer garment, and the gauge and yarn content are basically the same, be sure to compare the weight of the yarn as well. I wasn't able to get the dress in the Kelly yarn finished in time for Rowan's birthday on Saturday. I guess that's ok since it's freezing outside. Jack and I had fun at her party. She is a beautiful baby. I can't wait to see her in the finished product. I will post pictures of the dresses later!

Sewing Machine Cover

Sewing Machine Cover:

Yarn: Paton's SWS in Natural Geranium (70% wool 30% soy); 4-5 skeins, 109 yards each

Needle: Size 11
Gauge: 3 sts/inch
Measurements of my sewing machine: 14" wide, 11" tall, 6" deep
Finished measurements of cover: 14" wide, 10" tall, 6" deep

CO 52 sts
Work in st-st for 30 rows
(top of cover will be purl side of st-st)
Pick up 30 sts on the short side
Pick up 52 sts on the long side
Pick up another 30 sts on the other short side.
Place marker and join
Knit round and round and round for 78 rows. I was running very low on skein #4 and stopped at row 65. If you want your cover taller than 10", use 5 skeins of yarn and complete all 78 rows. BO, weave in ends.

** Paton's SWS felts extremely fast. ** Do not leave unattended when felting. Pull the cover out and measure it so you don't felt it too much. Roll it up in a towel and squeeze out excess water gently. Block the cover on your machine or similar sized box. I still had my plastic cover and kept this on my sewing machine while it blocked. If you don't have a plastic cover for your machine...try a large plastic bag. Don't put the wet wool directly on your machine!

Another wool yarn such as Cascade 220 or Galway should work just fine. It will, however, take longer to felt to these measurements. I will test this soon with one of these yarns.

Embellish to your heart's content. I used some scrapbooking brads and buttons to decorate mine. Have fun.If your machine is a different size and you need help figuring out how many sts and rows you need, just e-mail me.

Organized Chaos

Finally. All my magazines, books, patterns, yarn, and sewing materials are in one place. (Unless I'm working on 3 projects at once... then they are probably strewn all over the house) But now they at least have a home. The white bookshelf unit with the drawers is from Target. I really like the versatility of it. I can see adding another one on top pretty soon.

I was making really good progress on Rowan's birthday present when I got sidetracked by my sewing machine cover. That ugly plastic thing just has to go. I dug through the stash and found some Paton's SWS. I've really been wanting to knit something out of it. Of course I had 3 skeins and it looks like I'll need 4. Looks like I'm off to the buy more yarn. If the final product turns out good, I will post the pattern for the sewing machine cover.

Yummy Yarn

I was able to correct the uneven tension mentioned in the previous entry by wrapping the yarn around my pinky twice when purling. (I'm a thrower) But...I'm still not thrilled with the look of the mercerized cotton. Sooooo I ordered this cotton/acrylic blend from http://www.yarnmarket.com/ . The colors are beautiful, the yarn seems just a tad bit more forgiving and it is very lightweight. I can't wait to get started on Rowan's birthday project with this yarn. Very happy with the service from Yarn Market. Quick shipping, etc. Would definately order from them again.

Knitting with 100% cotton....ugh

Thanks to everyone that has visited the blog in the last week. I've gotten great feedback about the dragon pattern. I'm looking forward to seeing a few of them finished.I started on my latest project this week. It is a birthday present for my friend's baby girl. I can't post a picture just yet in case she stops by the blog . This is the first item I've knitted with 100% cotton. It is so different from all the other fibers that I've knitted with. The lack of stretch in the yarn makes purling difficult. I also think it's going to be too heavy. I ordered a cotton/nylon blend from Yarn Market. I'll make another one of these with that yarn and whichever one turns out best goes to Miss Rowan. The other...to ebay .

Fiery Dragon Scarf

I'm pleased to share this pattern with everyone. The inspiration for the scarf came directly from my son. He had been wanting a scarf all his own after watching me knit them for myself and others. I looked all over for a fun kid's scarf pattern...but such a thing just really didn't exist. This scarf, as knit, fits a 3 year old. You can adjust the length of the body to fit anyone in your family. I wanted the scarf to be comfortable, warm, and fun, yet practical. All of the features on the face are kid-safe. They are all sewn on with yarn or thread. There are no buttons or beads to fall off.

I would rate this project Intermediate-Advanced. The knitting itself isn't too hard...but there are lots of steps. I included extra photos in the pattern. I can post more here if more clarification is needed. I look forward to seeing everyone's interpretation of the pattern. This is my first design. It has been proofread by a professional knitting designer, but mistakes can happen. Please let me know if you find errors in the pattern, or something that could be improved or simplified. Click on the following link to download the .pdf file Fiery Dragon Scarf Pattern

Yarns used for Fiery Dragon Scarf: Variegated green: Dream in Color Handpainted Yarn in Happy Forest (superwash merino)- 1 skein (only used about 1/3 for my little scarfLight green:Ella Rae Amity in Green- 1 skein (used about half)Red: Encore worsted weight- 10-15 yards should be plenty. Check your stashOrange:Caron Simply Soft Brites in Mango- about 10 yards Fur: Lion Brand Fun Fur in Tangerine- about 10 yards

Correction: The .pdf file has been updated as of 1/23/07 to correct the numbering of the rows in the mouth section. Row 37-44 now reads Row 27-34.

New blog

[7/5/07- I started a blog earlier this year called http://www.funknitsforkids.com/ . I created it as a place to post my Fiery Dragon Scarf pattern and perhaps future patterns as well. I'd like to blog about other adventures in knitting, therefore I'm changing names and formats. I will be reposting my previous entries here.]

An introduction:

I live in Minnesota. I am married to a great guy named Jon and we have a 3 year old son, Jack. I started knitting in November of 2005, and after a brief hiatus last spring and summer have been hitting the needles hard ever since. I enjoy making just about everything...but purses, totes, and things for my son are my favorite. I am a Realtor and really enjoy the flexible schedule that comes with the job. Plus...it's nice being my own boss. I hope to make some new knitting friends and share ideas.

Brooke