Menokreatikkul; Saturday Stitches

As you will have gathered by now, I have an inordinate amount of 'scrap'... errr... leftovers... odds and sods... tail ends... just crazy amounts. Or I did. No, I still do, but the pile has definitely been reduced by at least one carrier bag load. Maybe a tad more. 

I dropped a hint with the photo a couple of weeks back. Another small project in the same vein as the single row per colour work that I used for the Timelines Dupatta. This was simply to keep my fingers from fidgeting as I kept track of the snooker over that week following Joni's visit. First, there was a small infinity-come-cowl, then a skull cap/slouchy...

As an aside, that big sloppy-joe jumper you see in a lot of my shots at the moment is one of my fave cuddly warmers. It's a bought item, but something I think I might have a go at recreating for myself with some of the other stash lots I have. This one is several years old now and is starting to show its age. Wearable only indoors and not to be seen on the street any more! So, that will be a project for the next cold season. Given the return to winter weather this week, that might be sooner than later   ❄🌨🌧 with occasional  🌦 ... I mean, seriously???

Anyway, despite the handiness of the finger scythe, colourwork row by row does get a bit tedious, and I wanted to make a bigger dent in that scrap stock, so I decided to make a much larger infinity scarf and just run each colour to its end. It was a fast and easy task, using a 6mm Tunisian hook and the mesh stitch. I am really loving this stitch, as it is less inclined to curl the fabric in the way other stitches do - a slight hiccup with Tunisian stitching, as it is worked only from one side. The nature of the meshing also results in one of the finer fabrics, less bulky than would be the case, say, with simple or full stitches.

Now, I know it's not everyone's cuppa, but I say don't be afraid of colour, people! I was determined to use up all that I had in this particular batch, ending up with roughly two metres of fabric and about 30cm width (cast on fifty stitches, the fabric being of the heavy #3 to light #4 weights, all acrylic).

Hanging straight like this, it goes most of the way to my knees if standing, covers them when sitting - as you note, my arm is not long enough to show it fully! It would only really be for sitting that it would be worn open like this. Mostly it will be folded up at least once - either to form a loose snood/hood, or to be a full and generous cowl...

I had a bit of a brainstorm and wondered if it could be worn as a sort of shrug. The answer, it turns out, is yes... a bit untidy here, because I was just experimenting, but it felt good and comforting on my back, so it would be fab for an additional layer over another jumper like this. I'm all for layering! You can see the slouch of the beanie here, now, too. As I took this shot, despite how light that looks in the background, it was actually snowing outside the window on Wednesday. Didn't lie, but actual, flaky snow... then we got battered with a 30-minute graupel storm (that's the snow pellets that resemble hail, for those who are wondering).  Sigh...