And Now for Afghan #3

Here is the afghan! I am using the 45 stitch basic mitered square, but I added a textured pattern to the end 12 stitches and the first half of the rows. I rather like this variation. It gives the look of four squares in the mitered square.

Koolaid Dyed Brown Yarn

I had a very happy Christmas Eve day dyeing this yarn! We had a big snowstorm and stayed home, so Koolaid dyeing was a wonderful way to spend the day. Along with putting up our Christmas tree and decorations.

My sister Heidi gave me this wool at Thanksgiving. This is the light tan color that I started with. You can see the original color in the center of the photo. I started my afghan with this yarn and soon decided that I needed more, so I dyed the medium brown.

#2 Miter Square Afghan

It has been a while since an update on my current miter square afghan. I'm almost done. Here is a photo from 2 weeks ago. All these yarns are koolaid dyed Patons wool.

Bias Garter Scarf - half done

Here is a picture of my scarf! A few tips. If you are confused about which side of the scarf you are on, put a marker close to each edge on the front side and move it up as you knit. This way you will know when you are on the increase/decrease side. Also, it is a good idea to count your stitches as you knit, your stitch count never changes.

Take a look at your edges. On the increase side, you will notice a small hole. The decrease side looks different. Perhaps you have noticed that I placed the increase and decrease 1 stitch in from the edge. This helps keep the edge neat. You could place them 2 or three stitches in from the edge.

Have fun knitting this scarf! By the time you finish it, you will be an expert at increasing and decreasing.

Bias Garter Scarf-Step 3 - decrease a stitch

You have knit until there are 3 stitches on the left needle. Insert you needle in the next two stitches and knit them together. You just decreased a stitch! In knitting speak, this is noted k2tog, which means, knit 2 together. Knit the last stitch on the left needle to complete the row.

Knit one row. You will be back on the right side of the knitting and you can see the marker.

This completes the pattern for the scarf. Continue to follow these two rows. On the right side, you do an increase at the beginning of the row and a decrease at the end of the row. Follow this with one row of plain knitting.

Here are the directions for the scarf in knitting terms.

1. Cast on 35 stitches.

2. On the right side row, you knit one stitch, then increase one stitch by knitting into the loop between the stitch just knit and the stitches on the left needle. Knit to the last 3 stitches, k2tog and knit 1. Turn and knit one row. Repeat these two rows until the desired length.

3. Bind off all stitches.

Bias Garter Scarf-Step 2 - increase a stitch

Knit the first stitch. Now we are going to pick up the loop between this stitch and the stitches on the left hand needle. Dip you needle into the loop between the stitch that you just knit and the remaining stitches on the left hand needle. Knit this loop. Now you have two stitches on the right hand needle. You just increased a stitch!

Knit across the row until you have 3 stitches remaining on the left hand needle.

Easy Bias Garter Scarf - Step 1

This project is an easy garter stitch scarf where you learn how to increase a stitch and how to decrease a stitch. I designed it as a second project for a new knitter. I used knitting worsted weight yarn and #7 needles.

Start by casting on 30 stitches. Knit two rows. Your yarn tail will be on the right edge. I will call this the RIGHT side of the scarf. Place a marker right by the yarn tail.

In the next step, you will learn how to increase a stitch.