Handknit Shawl (or Scarf) in Bright Variegated Yarn

Hello sweet Autumn lovers. I just love the change of the season and the cooler weather especially, don't you? My daughter, grandson, one nephew and I all have Autumn birthdays (2 in October and 2 in November). Plus here in New Mexico is the annual Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta (last 2 days are happening now), the Wool Festival (that was last weekend and I bought a lovely bright turquoise yarn there), and there the arts and crafts fairs start happening, which is always fun to browse and see what they have. And of course I know so many people who just love Halloween! I love all the Halloween quilts and such, but just never really got into the spooky spirit of it all. We don't get any trick-or-treaters here where I live, so kind of pointless to decorate for it. 

My sweet garden statue is a bit too slender of a model for this shawl, but I hope you get the idea.

Back side of shawl.

Back to the cooler weather that I mentioned. Since I love to knit, I also love wearing knit socks, scarves, shawls, cardigans and sweaters (just not all at the same time, lol!!!!). Scarves and shawls are my favorite things to knit as they don't have to fit like a sweater or a pair of socks, so I can really enjoy the knitting process. I have knit a ton of scarves and hats over the years and have donated a lot of them too at Christmas time. Some of the best things that I have knit I would like to try and sell them (to justify buying more yarn, lol), so I am adding a few handknit items to my PayHip Shop. Knitting by hand certainly takes a long time and the best quality yarns and fibers are very expensive too! But for me it's also a labor of love, plus I cannot keep everything I knit as I am running out of space in my home, lol!!! So I will offer a few scarves and shawls for sale from time-to-time in my shop. I cannot earn anything for my labor, since it takes weeks or months to complete knitted projects, so I will price the knitting to recoup the cost of the yarn plus some extra. 

The Shawl measures approximately 66" wide x 23" high.

Laid out across the back of a garden chair to show the shape and the knitting pattern. 

Placed on my fence to see it a bit better too.

So with that in mind, I have this lovely shawl, which can also be worn as a scarf too, for sale in my PayHip Shop. I knit the shawl from what is called a Cake Yarn that has long yardage of one color before it changes into another color, so you end up with very wide stripes. In the case of this shawl/scarf it is knit with short rows to create the interesting design. The yarn is 10% Alpaca which gives it a very soft buttery feel to the touch, the rest is acrylic. 

I recommend hand washing using just hair conditioner when it needs it and squeeze the water out (never wring handknits), then wrap and roll in a towel to remove as much excess water as possible. Lay the shawl onto a dry towel and move and pat it into shape and leave to dry. Hair conditioner (use the best quality with natural ingredients), not only cleans the knitwear, but adds softness too. Since this shawl contains some animal fiber (Alpaca), it also adds back the natural moisturizers that animal fibers naturally have. You need to condition leather (shoes, furniture, bags, etc.), so it makes sense to do the same with your animal fiber knits. I have washed my knits this way for decades and they feel much nicer! Plus, after I am done knitting something, I will do this before I block the item into shape, so this shawl has already been conditioned.

Doesn't she look like she is in heaven with this shawl wrapped around her?

Thanks for looking at my PayHip Shop and I hope when you are needing a gift that you remember to check the inventory I have in my shop. 

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Close to You Hand Knit Scarf #3 in Blue-Green Variegated Yarn

I love knitting this scarf. This is the 3rd one I have knit. It uses fingering weight yarn and looks great in so many colors and types of yarn. The first one I knit was an alpaca/wool blend in a soft variegated pastel blue-violet colors. Then I knit a solid pink 100% alpaca one and this one is a wool/acrylic blend. 

On the first one I knit, I followed the picot bind off, but the last 2 I did a regular bind off without the picot edge. It was much easier and I personally didn't think the picot added anything to the scarf. This is a free pattern if you want to knit your own scarf. You can find the pattern here on Ravelry.

I am starting a different knit scarf tonight. I just finished a hat knit with cables last night. Happy Knitting and keep warm.
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I knit this beret in a variegated yarn. The yarn didn't have a label and I have no idea where I got it? Maybe at a destash sale or yarn exchange? It was a nice yarn to work with, so I wish I knew what it was.

My real hair used to look curly like this wig, but has lost a lot of it's curl through aging.

The pattern is called Classic French Beret by BadKnittyKnits. It's a free pattern on Ravelry too. Happy knitting!

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I knit this scarf in a Chevron stitch using a variegated wool blend yarn in browns with a touch of blue. I love knitting the Chevron pattern because it's easy, but it looks great! These photos were taken indoors a few months ago because it was too cold to go outside and dragging Fanny around is not so easy to do. So the photos are not the best indoors.

Fanny is modeling the scarf. She is also wearing a knit beret I made over 35 years ago! The beret is a mohair/silk blend and so soft.

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Multi-Colored Knit Scarf

I knit this scarf using a multi-colored yarn. I think it is an acrylic yarn. I love the colors of this yarn! I have been wearing this scarf every morning that I walk in the cold weather. I knit this and took photos before I had my model, Fanny.

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