knitting · photo posts · stay-at-home auxiliary

Definitely too many stitches.

There are going to two ways to work the finishing/border on the Stay-at-Home Auxiliary Scarf, because if you do all 14 squares and pick up stitches to knit the border the way I had planned it, you are going to have something like 902 sts crammed on a 48”-60” needle, and that is not the most fun knitting I have ever done. (I’m doing it, because it is wrong to tell people it could be done without trying it and finding out how potentially frustrating it really is, but I think the alternate method also looks nice, and you probably don’t have to be painstakingly careful about how you set the knitting down to keep 20+ sts from coming off the needle just because there is No Room.)

The first step for this project went out on April 2, so the official end date, if you’ve been doing a square a day, would be April 15th or 16th, depending on how you approach it (is the border part of Day 14, or something you do the day after?). The finishing step should be live within the next couple of days, so please watch this space. Take care!

knitting · photo posts · tutorial

Stay-at-Home Auxiliary Scarf: Day Two

Work continues where it left off on Day 1.

This entry is photo-heavy! Essentially, the steps are simple: with the WS facing you (and the tail from the cast-on edge on the lower righthand corner), pick up 31 sts from the RS along the selvedge sts. Once that’s done, flip the work again so it’s RS up, and add 30 sts using the cable cast-on, for a total of 61 sts. Work continues from there with a repeat of the mitered square instructions from Day 1. But this may not be intuitive at first, so we’re going the photo tutorial route.

Work Continues: Attached Mitered Squares (Make 13).

The previous step ended with a bound-off mitered square. One st is live on the needle, with the working yarn attached. The RS (right side) should look similar to the sample in the photo below.

Now turn the work so that the WS is facing up. Leave the live st on the needle, and continue not breaking the working yarn. (Note the angle of the decrease spine. For the first square, the cast-on tail will also be in the lower right corner; for the rest of the attached squares, the scarf will trail out from the lower edge, so it will be a little more obvious how to orient each new square.)

Using the working yarn, pick up 30 sts at the rate of 1 st per selvedge. Sts are picked up from the RS, with the WS facing you. With the loop left on the needle from the bind-off, you’ll have 31 sts total.

For the sample shown, I picked up sts from only the back leg of each selvedge st, to create a pronounced faux seam. You can pick sts up from both loops/legs or just one.

After picking up sts until you have 31 sts, turn work RS up again. It should look similar to the photo below.

Starting between the last two sts, CO 30 sts using the cable cast-on method, for a new total of 61 sts.

(I am working a few days ahead, so there’s more scarf in the photo than there should be at this point, but other than that, work should look similar to the photo below.)

Once all 61 sts are established, repeat Rows 1-5 from Day 1. (They’re reproduced below, so you don’t have to click back.)

Row 1 (RS). sl1, k remaining. 
Row 2. sl1, k29, p1, k to end of row. 
Placing a removable stitch marker on the purled middle stitch is optional. The purled stitch is referred to later as the middle stitch. 
Row 3. sl1, k to 1 before middle st, s2kpo, k to end of row (2 sts dec) 59 sts remain. 
Row 4. sl1, k to middle st, p middle st, k to end of row. 

Repeat Rows 3 & 4 until 5 sts remain, ending with a Row 4 repeat. 

Row 5 (Bind Off). sl1, s2kpo, slip previous st over, k1, slip previous st over. 
Do not break yarn. 
Leave last st on needle.

For squares 2-14, go back to the beginning and repeat this section.

knitting · photo posts · stay-at-home auxiliary

Stay-at-Home Auxiliary Mitered Square Scarf, Day 1.

Okay! This is the official start. The instructions below make your first mitered square—which will be the starting point for the entire scarf. For materials, gauge, suggested needles, etc., see Day 0.

Begin Work.
First Mitered Square (Make 1).

Using the cable cast-on method, cast on 61 sts.
Row 1 (RS). sl1, k remaining.
Row 2. sl1, k29, p1, k to end of row.
Placing a removable stitch marker on the purled middle stitch is optional. The purled stitch is referred to later as the middle stitch.
Row 3. sl1, k to 1 before middle st, s2kpo, k to end of row (2 sts dec) 59 sts remain.
Row 4. sl1, k to middle st, p middle st, k to end of row.

Repeat Rows 3 & 4 until 5 sts remain, ending with a Row 4 repeat.

Row 5 (Bind Off). sl1, s2kpo, slip previous st over, k1, slip previous st over.
Do not break yarn.
Leave last st on needle.

This is sort of what the first mitered square should look like after the first few rows, but less linen-y, especially if you’re making it out of wool.