Fuzzy Scarf on a Round Loom

Over the past few years, I've made several hats successfully using my loom knitter.  It's so simple, and it's so satisfying to make something out of nothing.  Or, well, something out of a pile of yarn that starts out as nothing really useful.  I still have not mastered the art of the long loom knitter.  I've watched several videos, and I can't quite grasp all the steps.  I'm sure it's very simple, like regular knitting or crocheting.  But somehow, something I haven't been able to conquer.  So while I've made hats without difficulty, I had never made a scarf.  I assumed I would need to use the long knitter for that. 

Silly me.  I looked at the smallest round loom one day and realized...I can make a scarf with THAT!  duh. Just one long continuous tube, and voila!  Lookie, a warm thing to put around your neck!  Yay!  Honestly, the thought has crossed my mind before.  Then I forget about it.  I go back to thinking I need the long loom for scarves.  I moan about not being able to make scarves.  Then one day it dawns on me.  Then before I get out the yarn to try it, I forget again.  It's an endless cycle of memory retrieval and loss, not unlike Dory in Finding Nemo. 

I've been more interested in scarves lately.  They're all the rage at the office.  I'm not the most sophisticated girl, and I never really mastered the fine art of style and accessorizing.  Layers?  Complementary colors?  Wha?  I was stellar at layering plaid flannel over a band t-shirt back in college, but past that, I'm pretty clueless.  Ah, the good old days of grunge fashion...It was so much simpler to be in style when it only required apathy and a pair of combat boots. 

Anyway, back to scarves.  Several of the classy ladies at work accessorize with pretty scarves.  They're silky, usually with simple designs and varying shades of the same color, occasionally with a little gold or silver thread mixed in.  Lovely!  I'm so envious when I see them. My husband has a friend who actually creates them from scratch.  And when I say that, I mean she makes and dyes the fabric.  When working with wool?  Yeah, she sheers the sheep.

Here's an example of some of her stunning work:
 
joydidit Gardens In Bloom Arashi Shibori Scarf 

Isn't it gorgeous?  I want one!!

Ok, but this is not that.  This is made with yarn.  This is just a warm fuzzy scarf in a dark teal.  I'm still working on how to make a work appropriate scarf with materials I have on hand.  I don't have a huge fabric stash, and cutting up existing clothing is difficult for me, even when said clothing is sort of hideous or ill-fitting or stained.  And I keep fretting over different aspects of that.  Having a large enough sample of fabric to make a full scarf, that would be tough.  And the edges.  Would they fray?  Probably.  Eep, sewing.  Ergh...But the more I see these wonderful scarves, the more I want to try to make something like it myself.  Not that it would be the same as the ones I've seen, but still beautiful in its own way.  It'll happen.  I just need to keep telling myself that.

What I used:
*Knifty Knitter Flower Loom
*Loom pick
*Loom needle
*Scissors
*Feathered yarn
*Black string/cord/thread

How did I make this scarf?  Well, you already know that it was on a loom.  

Here is a video that might help should you decide to try this yourself:

I decided to use the smallest Knifty Knitter loom, the flower loom.  I used a heavy black thread, more like string, really, and a sort of feathered yarn.  I didn't use two strands of the feathered yarn because 1. I didn't have enough, and 2. I didn't want it to be super fuzzy anyway.  I wanted a more subdued fuzziness.  

I started out on the loom the same way I would if I were making a hat.  Wind the yarn around each peg.  The cross should be in the back, the loop in the front (if that makes any sense whatsoever).  Wind it around twice, with the second row above the first one.  Take the loom pick & pull the bottom loop over the top loop and then over the peg. Do that a lot.
Really, it's better if you look at the video.  I'm totally awful at giving instructions.  I have to have pictures.  Too bad my phone is having problems sending photographs to my email at the moment.  *sigh*

 Instead of ending the piece at a hat length tube, I kept going.  And going, and going, and going.  Until I made a very long tube.  At the end, I cast off the loom the same way I would with a hat, except I didn't pull the yarn taut at the end.  I made a knot to secure it.  That was it.

I could use a larger loom for a wider scarf.  But that would take so much yarn, I'm afraid I would run out.  Maybe I'll get some new yarn to make a scarf, and I just won't include it in this blog (much like the wedding card box I still need to post).  

Now, what to post next...there are several options, just need to blog something.  There is the plarn...hm...