Get Knotted Scarf

Sorry I've been such a non-posting bum lately.  I got distracted by a bunch of little things.  I had intended to get this up on Monday, but I couldn't find my scarf to photograph it.  So I figured I'd do it Tuesday, but then My Favorite Year was playing on TCM and I pretty much ignored everything in the glee of being able to see the super awesome movie.  Then it was Wednesday, and I had a lab meeting at work which kept me late.  Thursday is knitting day and by the time I get home I'm so hungry I can't think of anything but food and Grey's Anatomy.  I know what you're thinking; excuses, excuses.  You'd be right.  But, better late than never...kinda...maybe...please?

Forging ahead, remember how I told you that I was busy making patterns, though I didn't get around to posting anything, over the holidays?  Well, this is one of those.  You see, I am incapable of just sitting and I'm not very good at just sitting and chatting or just sitting and watching a movie.  Consequently, I drag my giant craft bag of awesomeness around with me when traveling. (Plus if I don't have yarn to play with I get really twitchy.)  Then, whenever I had a moment I could go to town on some random project.  Since I had no specific projects in mind I got to create.  However, family time also means getting to help out with a bunch of really random stuff so I needed to make things that were easy enough that I wouldn't lose my place since I might not have time to put a marker in or write down where I stopped.  Sitting in the kitchen learning how to make bread I recalled a pattern I had done work on quite a while ago.  It hadn't worked out the way I would have hoped and I just kinda forgot about it.  It was, however, perfect for working on between doing things.  I could make as many pieces as I wanted and assemble them however worked out.  Before you start thinking I've come up with another dreaded piece worked scarf, let me assure you that this one requires no sewing whatever.  You knot the thing together so it's great for easy assembly.  And, since it is knotted together, the scarf is incredibly versatile.  All you have to do is make a pile of loops, then add or remove however many you need to make the thing do what you want!  (Yes, I picked the name for this one on purpose and yes, I do know what it means.  I'm actually pretty good at British English.)  Enjoy!

Get Knotted Scarf

Caron Simply Soft, in at least 2 colors, about 70 yards total
F hook

Loop gauge:
pinched in half (as shown) a loop is about 4 3/4 inches (12 1/2 cm) long

Loop pattern, I made 9 blue and 9 yellow
Ch 40, join in loop making sure not to twist the chain.
1 sc in each ch around, join and break off.

Assembly:
Thread loops through each other as shown.

Now for the other confession.... it isn't just all the other stuff that went on this week that has kept me away from my blog.  I'm pretty sure you've all figured out that I'm nuts so this next shouldn't surprise you.  As we're a bit into 2012, I feel it's time to start planning out Halloween again.  No, I'm not going to start bombarding you with Halloween crafting updates.  That's for summer time-ish.  The only reason I'm even bringing it up is because I try to keep my posts in line with what I'm actually doing (it doesn't always work, but hey, at least I try) and I've gotten a little (understatement of the year) obsessed about Halloween this week.  I also realized that some of the stuff I want to make is going to take some serious forethought.  I learned a lot from making Corpsy.  He took a seriously long time to make so it's imperative that I get an idea for what I want to do now so that I can plan out when I'm going to make my props for this year.  Also, there are a number of huge advantages to starting preliminary plans now.  Like when my stuff doesn't work (stupid eyes) I actually have a solid piece of time to come up with replacements.  It also lets me take advantage of things like extreme weather.  If I had planned like this last year I could have had Corpsy done in like a week.  With the heat wave we had last year, yeesh, every layer on Corpsy would have dried in a couple hours and been well set by the next day.  I want to try paper mache clay this year and I know it takes a while to dry well, so being able to use the weather to help that along would be much of good.

The other big change is that I'm actually talking about what I want to do in advance.  Normally I keep things relatively quiet unless I found something really cool.  Since I've started this whole blogging thing, though, I don't think that's going to work.  I get much too excited about my props and they take a lot of time away from yarn crafting.  Once I start the formal planning and construction, probably in April and July respectively, my pattern output is going to drop.  It's just going to happen.  But, by spreading out my prop planning and construction I'm hoping that I won't get so far into Halloween that I totally lose track of my yarn crafts.  Not having to rush the Halloween related posts should actually make it easier for me to get patterns up from summer on.  With any kind of luck I'll have most of my construction done well in advance and then I can spend more time coming up with some truly epic patterns.  The other benefit is actually for all you wonderful people that read my blog.  If I create something that you think you might like to try, you *should* have time to do so.  I suppose there's something extra in it for me too, come to think of it.  I'm always up for suggestions and ideas.  The internet is a big place and I'm bound to miss some interesting stuff.  If you come across anything interesting or that might be helpful, by all means let me know!

On to the spoiler, as it were.  This year I think what I want to do is a mad scientist theme.  I'm going to have to re-purpose a lot of my decs for it, but I think it will work.  At the moment my thought is to have some manner of 'parts storage' in the bathroom.  Kinda go with the slasher film shtick; organs on ice in the tub, blood on the walls, bloody towels, dissection kit, that kind of thing.  Then have the 'main lab' in the dining room with labware (beakers, flasks, etc), lab tools (like my microscope.  It's nothing fancy, came in a science kit my parents got me when I was little, but it does work) and some form of monster assembly.  I'll have to change some of how I do food, though.  You can't have a convincing 'monster on the slab' scenario next to a box of kitty litter, it just wouldn't look right.  Consequently we're probably looking at big changes to the menu also.