Branching Out scarf knit-along

[cameras4toys]

Here is my progress. I've made my first mistake, where I have to backtrack. Boo hoo.. Now it's on hold for other fun stuff.

[ax174]

Rather than rip back (especially in mohair, which is not "ripbackable"), you can find your error by couting the mirrored stitches from the outside in, since the pattern is a mirror image with a centre stitch.   

To find the mistake, start at both ends.  You should have on each side: 3 knit stitches.  Then whatever the pattern says you should have next, make sure it's on both sides.  For example, say, it's a K2TOG.   Check both sides for a joining of two stitches into one (it'll be a K2TOG on one side, and an SSK on the other, but you need only check that 2 sts have been combined into one).   Suppose the next stitch is supposed to be a YO.  Check that there is a yarn-over next on both sides.  Continue like this to the centre stitch, and you should eventually find the error. 

For me, it's usually a dropped YO, which is easy to spot if you have a YO on one side, but no corresponding YO on the other side.  Often I'll have one extra stitch, but it's easy to figure out which one it is counting from the outside in, then it's just a matter of  knitting it together with the next stitch.  I've actually got *tons* of extra stitches in my WIP, but you can't see them because of the fixes.

[CheeseGirl]

Hi all -- I am a brand new craftster-er and yesterday I started a branching out scarf for my MIL...then I ripped it out...then I started again...then I ripped it out...then I started it again...you get the picture.  I ripped out and restarted so many times that I DREAMED about it last night.  Those first five knit rows -- easy!  Yarn overs -- hard!  Haven't done those before.  But, after squinting at the chart and dreaming about it (I know how that sounds, but it really does seem clearer today) I think I understand.  I'm ready to pick it up again this morning, that's for sure, as soon as I finish this post.

Before I started my project yesterday, I googled "branching out" and found this knit along.  All your beautiful scarves and funny and interesting posts inspired me to start my own scarf and join craftster so I could participate.  So, thanks!!!  This should be fun!!

[roxycat]

DONE! Actually I would've kept going to make it a little longer but:

1. I wasn't feeling the pattern (it's the yarn, really + it's becoming too redundant)
2. There was a knot in the yarn coming up- an excuse to end it sooner!!
3. It's for a kid anyways so no need to make it that long

Pics (you can see where I hella messed up in the beginning but lazy me didn't care to rip it out & fix it hehe). Oh and mine isn't blocked, it's cheap-o acrylic. Glad to be DONE!

[roxycat]

Hey cheesegirl, not sure if you've seen the site stitchguide.com but here is a link to a video of how to do a yarn-over (actually this isn't even how I do mine but whatever- my way seems to be working too hehe).

http://stitchguide.com/stitches/knitting/videos/kn_yo_knit.html

hope this helps!

[CheeseGirl]

Thanks, Roxy, for the yarn over advice -- I had checked out stitchguide and knittinghelp.com and they were of some help, but I think I invented my own way of doing it too!  Either way, I did finally figure it out, thanks.  The thing I had to get through my iron-plated skull was that when the pattern directions call for a yarn over, it just means to bring the YARN OVER.  That's it.  Not to knit another stitch in addition.  Happily, I was able to make it 5 rows into the pattern (NOT counting the garter stitch rows, ha ha) without a mistake.  Woo-hoo!!

Sadly, though, those 5 rows only verified a sneaky feeling I had been having, while knitting and ripping and knitting and ripping.  The yarn I'm using (at my MIL's request) is just totally wrong for this project.  It's worsted weight, Red Heart Tweed in a color called Irish Coffee.  The yarn is fine when being knit or purled in rows -- but it splits out and fuzzes up when you try to k2 or 3tog.  And, the pattern isn't as easy to see with a stouter yarn.  But it's cool, I can adapt; I'll just knit her a nice seed stitch scarf with a matching hat with this yarn.  However, I knit enough of the branching out pattern to know that I definitely want to finish one (or many) of those.  It's the most complex pattern I've yet tried to knit, and I was loving it.  Just gotta get the right yarn for it, and I'll start another one in a couple days.  Any suggestions on moderately-priced yarns that would work with the branching out pattern?  I guess I could spring for the $15 for the Lorna's, but on my first try, I'd like to go cheap.  Especially if I like this pattern as much as I think I do -- I could end up buying a lot of Lorna's down the road!

[ax174]

LOL!  CheeseGirl, your experience reminds me of when I first started knitting and had a heck of a time figuring out what a yarn-over was.  I actually like the British term better - yarn forward ("yrn fwd" or somtimes just "yf").  That seems more clear - just bring the yarn forward, i.e. to the front, then continue with the pattern.

An unrelated question:  has anyone been successful in getting the pucker out of their scarf?  I haven't finished mine (mohair blend), but couldn't resist and blocked what was done.  The pucker seemed to disappear from the cast-on edge, but after a few hours it reappeared. 

[justlease]

Just checked mine, and the pucker is still unpuckered.

[Nansee]

 :DI will give it a try for my MIL - found a nice  blue yarn that has some glitter in it - should set off the pattern with some sparkle! 

What do you think?

[PrincessJazz]

Finally!  I got the photos off my brother's digital camera and learned how to resize them.  Here they are:



I used US size 7 needles and some shiny acrylic yarn that I bought at a thrift store.  It's very soft.

Jazz