Rockstar scarf

Here is progress so far on the Rockstar-esque scarf (as seen on Knitty). It is "-esque" because I'm knitting it on larger needles than the original pattern so it's slightly wider. Yarns are Wendy Shimmer "Bordeaux" and grey chunky acrylic. One day I will get some of the fabled Koigu yarn, they seem to use it quite a bit on Knitty patterns, but it's quite pricey stuff and very few people stock it in the UK.




Note the one place where I forgot to slip the first stitch of the row :-) It's amazing how this makes a much neater edge when knitting every row, quite important if you have a scarf where the edge isn't going to be a seam. I hadn't tried this before but I will always use it now.

I've made a start on weaving the ends in but you can see where I've loosely tucked them behind to take the photo :-)

I tried to go outside to take the photo, as even next to the window the camera insisted on flash, but it's rather windy and cold outside today! Apparently it was 18C in Melbourne today (and this is their winter). In our summer it is 14C here, someone please explain why our weather is so pitiful! It has been lovely all week though, obviously we need to atone for having had a run of decent weather.

This month's Knitting magazine has a review of knitting needles. As my collection is currently sadly lacking in various sizes (anything much larger than 4.5mm - most of them probably from my Gran!) I went along to Kangaroo. They advertised bamboo needles, and also River John birch needles. I've ordered a pair of RJ needles in 12mm size, and various bamboo in smaller sizes. I'm very interested to see how they handle and feel, having heard much talk about how wood-based needles are better if you have arthritis.

Take a look at Knitknack in the US too. They stock what might be termed "very posh" needles, verrrry nice indeed but rather pricey.