Caron Cake Scarf

A while ago the crafting community went crazy for Caron cakes. I actually knew this was going to happen. No I'm not clairvoyant, it just so happened that a few weeks before I;d been at the CHSI stitches show and spoken to one of their representatives [whilst he fed me a Caron cake.....not actually fed me, it wasn't like a roman slave thing....he just gave me a cake to eat]  Anyway he used the words "these are going to be huge" and I was like "oh alright Hun, may I have another cake for on the train?" 

And then they launched.

And before you could say knitting needles Hobbycraft had sold out, and on line had sold out [I mean who knew the INTERNET could sell out?] I actually saw a picture of a lady walking out of Hobbycraft with 10 of them! I MEAN TEN!

Luckily for me I snapped one up a few weeks later when the drama had died down! This was during Rikki's why don't you spoil yourself and get a hobbycraft order moment...... I'm still not 100% what he's broken. 

I chose the "Funfetti" colourway which is no longer available on the hobbycraft website [insert sad emojis] I'm not sure why I picked that one, apart from I was two glasses of wine down and the title Funfetti just seemed hilarious! I already knew I wanted to knit a new winter scarf and who does want to swath themselves in Funfetti? 

I believe it comes under the title of a colour change wool, well because the colour changes but its not in  your typical fade style. Instead you get set blocks of colour, all of which I think are roughly the same length [its hard to tell when its knitted up because of gauge and stuff] Now because of these solid blocks of colour I decided to alternate my stitches so for example I started knitting in garter stitch and then when the colour changed I switched to moss stitch! I kept going like this until the end, It worked out quite nicely because it gave me a break from the moss stitch which I am really really slow at. Plus it gives the scarf a bit more texture.

I cast on 31 stitches because you need an odd number to create moss stitch and knitted the whole ball of wool. I knitted it up on 7.00mm prym ergonomic knitting needles. The clip ends on the needles came in very handy for this project as they stopped my knitting slipping off and coming undone! In fact they worked so well that this scarf survived camping without dropping a single stitch! 

Isn't moss stitch pretty? Its so underrated!

And here's my personal favourite garter stitch! Fun Fact : I can knit garter stitch without looking at it. this makes it perfect for watching films for "mindless knitting"

The ball of wool cost me £10 which I think might be the most I've ever spent on a 200g ball of wool but I used the lot! Its worth it though to have such a long scarf! Shops never make scarves long enough to wrap around twice or do a loop with. [ Although my Mother has informed me the best way to where a scarf is to cross it over your chest and across your tummy to keep the cold out.] 

It actually turned out pretty cute as my new winter scarf I like all the colours and the length is a definite bonus but the best bit is the content of the wool, Its 20% wool and 80% acrylic which means its soft enough that it won't scratch but that its hard wearing enough to go through the wash a few times! I'm not sure what it is a about winter that makes clothes so grimy but it sure does! 

In fact the only quibble I have is that the end colours of my ball of wool were a bit mottled. Ever other colour had been perfectly even but the last two were very splotchy and well messy looking. I'm not sure if mine was just a bad lot but it did irk me a bit. Especially seen as £10 for a ball of wool isn't exactly cheap. 

Its not enough to stop me buying more Caron cakes though! I'm lusting after "bumbleberry" at the moment! 

In other news!

-The boys are more than pleased with the latest Liverpool result all I can hear every now and again is shouting!

 - We have brought a new rug for the living room and its shedding like a Yeti! I'm genuinely worried wee are going to have no rug left. But Rikki assures me that its just because its new and that it should stop soon. I will have to hoover though which is gutting!!!

- We are still surviving the summer holidays but we seem to have found out groove a bit more this week. So far we've been to see the monkeys, played mini golf with dinosaurs and learnt some sewing skills! 

Much Love

Frankie 

xxx