Monday, July 6, 2009

Add Color To Your Summer ~ Knit a Baktus Scarf!

I'm wearing the popular Baktus scarf which is all the rage with knit bloggers this season. But mine has a Southern California twist. Instead of using the recommended sock weight yarn I substituted a bulky weight cotton boucle yarn to create a Summer Accessory perfect for those cool and often foggy mornings that Southern California is well known for.



The Baktus scarf is one of those amazing free on-line knitting patterns that catches fire on the Internet and pretty soon everyone has knit one. There are now many shapes and sizes of the Baktus scarf to be found in blogland. Some are striped, some are solid, some are small, some are large, some have added doodads and doohickeys and the marvelous thing is that they are all as unique as the knitters who knit them! The following are links to some of my favorite on-line knitters ~ check out their beautiful and creative interpretations of the Baktus Scarf ~ and be inspired to knit your own...... Smoking Hot Needles, Frosty Lily, Hobby Gasa, Heges Hobbykrok, A Black Pepper, Mustaa Villa, Maanel, and Emma Bee.

Since this project is designed to show off hand painted yarns, I thought I would give you my tip for knitting with multiple skeins of hand painted yarn.

Knitting Tip No. 7 ~ Knitting with Hand Painted Yarns




The nature of hand painted yarns is that each skein is slightly different in color. For this scarf I used 2 skeins of yarn, one of which had decidedly more dark pink in the colorway. The issue then becomes how to change to a new skein without having the difference in color being noticeable. The conventional wisdom is that you should always knit from both balls of yarn at once (i.e. knit 2 rows from one skein and then switch to the second skein and knit the next two rows and keep switching back and forth between the two skeins every two rows). While this technique does blend the skein colors well, I personally like the visual interest that results from using different colored skeins. Therefore I knit from one skein until I'm close to the end of that skein and only then do I begin alternating rows with the second skein in the aforementioned rotation. If you look at the pictures above and below you can see that one end of the scarf has decidedly more of dark pink which begins just before the halfway point. I like this result because I believe it best shows off the uniqueness of hand painted yarns.



Particulars: Baktus Scarf (free pattern) courtesy of the very talented Strikkelise; 2 skeins Araucania Pehuen (purchased at Strands Studio in San Clemente, California); US 10.5 needles. This is a very easy pattern suitable for a knitter who has a basic understanding of the knit stitch and can perform simple increases and decreases. Dimensions: 52" long and 11" at widest point

Out and About in San Clemente, California

All of today's pictures are taken at the San Clemente Farmer's Market and Craft Show and, as long as I'm all dressed up in my new scarf, I thought it would be fun to show you a bit of the market which is held on Avenida Del Mar the first Sunday of each month.

Every Sunday from 9am to 1 p.m. there is a Farmer's Market but on the 1st Sunday of each month they also have a craft show. Wandering around the market is one of our favorite ways to wile away a Sunday morning while in San Clemente. More specifically, I'm referring to Steve and myself. Mr Puffy refuses to join us because they don't sell milk bones.... *le sigh*



I love being surrounded by the fragrance of fresh produce and the hub bub of a market square and seeing all the crafts of the local artists.



Pictured above is the work of Ivan the glass blower who does beautiful work and is always adding new designs. We have several of his pieces in our place in San Clemente and they have become gifts for family and friends too.

We will next be in San Clemente over Labor Day weekend for San Clemente's first annual Jazz Festival on Saturday, September 5th, 2009. Steve loves jazz music and is quite impressed that this sleepy little surf town is attracting jazz greats Patti Austin, Dianne Reeves, and Joe Sample and who knows what other surprises! Proceeds support San Clemente beaches and recreation so I hope they have a great turnout.

Make sure you take the time this Summer to enjoy the various activities in your local community and, until next time, be well and happy knitting!

31 comments:

Anita said...

Love your scarf, especially the summery color! :) I've seen you comment over at Chan's blog & finally decided to come over to see who Mr. Puffy was. And Mr. Puffy is adorable! We used to have a little beagle. :)

Larissa said...

love how light and cheery your baktus scarf looks - perfect for summer. I really enjoy the photos of you out and about in CA - I grew up in the LA/Santa Monica area and I miss the cool mornings. For the past 10 years we've lived in the country in VA where it's humid all summer long. Hope you went home with something fun from the market.

betty said...

Lovely summer scarf! Thanks for the tip about the hand painted yarns. I can see effect as a gradual color change.

Tracy said...

LOVE that scarf, Claudia...the orange-crush-juicy-sherbert colors of that hand painted yarn is delicious! I like your idea of using the boucle instead of the sock weight. And thanks for the knitting tips... That market looks such fun. And you look great sporting that new scarf around the market! Glad to see you've got some fun sneaked into your busy summer so far. Happy Days, my friend ((HUGS))

amanda said...

The scarf looks like the perfect summer accessory! Every time I see your SoCal photos, I wish I lived there....

Lisa said...

Oh my god that is gorgeous. I will admit, however, to initially being intrigued by the "Backus" scarf and thinking it was all cool that there was a knitting pattern named after Thurston Howell, III. But I digress. The pictures are beautiful and I just love your hair.

Monika said...

And you said it's not flowing! It's a wonderful, interesting blog post again! As usual I adore the photographs. Such warmth and crisp colors, must be because of the orangey colors. :o)
Mr. Puffy is right, why go there if there's nothing in it for him? :o)

Anna said...

It looks great! Really sunny and cheerful.

Hilary said...

Oh, I LOVE it in the cotton boucle, and with your cute red top against the backdrop of the farmer's market it captures the essence of summer! I also love how you used the skeins, not alternating but allowing the character and uniqueness of the hand-paintedness to shine!

subliminalrabbit said...

wow, i somehow missed this pattern... ? totally cute!

i love my local farmer's market (santa monica main street), where there are local crafty booths weekly!

Willow said...

I shall run right over and look at those scarves and grab the pattern. I have some hand spun that would look great in that pattern!

I'll be driving past San Clemente next week. Maybe The Professor will let us take a little detour on our way to San Diego.

SissySees said...

Beautiful scarf. I too ignore the conventional wisdom and let the yarn tell its own tale...

Your market looks like a real treat! Ours began including crafter several years ago, every week. I believe the vendors just have to come early to get the spots available, but maybe they have a pre-registration. I need to go back!

Anonymous said...

Wow, that juicy orange color and the drape of your Baktus is going to sell out that yarn. Who knew I'd like boucle! I love seeing your FOs so that my niece, two little grandnieces and their father can get some California-appropriate knits from me. Since I am on the other (colder) coast those colors tend to elude us in the LYSs and we have to rely on the Internet. Thanks for pointing the way, Claudia. Ursula

Mr Puffy's Knitting Blog: said...

Hi Ursula! I'm so pleased that you enjoyed the post ~ I know your niece's family would love to receive bright happy scarves handcrafted by you!

knittingdragonflies said...

Love the scarf, when I saw your version of it, I knew I was going to use my new pink spun yarn for it.
Thanks
And as always, great photos
Vicki

t does wool said...

Claudia...beautiful scarf...I am adding this to my list...lovey shots...and that Mr Puffy is a wise one ;)

Claire said...

I love it! I've been thinking of making the lacy version of this scarf--the cotton version looks so right for California.

Anonymous said...

Thanks so much for posting- I somehow missed this one. Yours (along with all the rest) is beautiful. I wish we had cool mornings so I could wear one now! Love it!

Mary said...

I love the color of your baktus scarf. I'll have to check that pattern out!

The Wooly Wumpus said...

Your Baktus is gorgeous and the colorway is so fresh! Looks perfect with the scoop neck top you are wearing! Don't blame you for wanting to show it off a bit.

Thanks for the pictures from out and about in San Clemente!

raining sheep said...

Love the hot summer colors on your scarf. So pretty...and very lovely with your blond hair. I am so enjoying the sun coming through your photos. Nothing better than a market!

amanda said...

You really suit those hot colours! So jealous of your Californian lifestyle!

Kristiina said...

Oh, it's so sunny and warm there and you look great with your juicy scarf. It's raining here and only 15 degrees outside and it should be the warmest time of the year.

Renee said...

Oh Claudia, it's lovely! I so enjoy wandering the market and crafter fairs, but you definite have us outdone in the gorgeous local category!
My queue is yet again growing, I think this is likely a knit I knit for myself! Thank you for the inspiration. :)

sweetp said...

Its lovely and the colour suits you so well.

At Home Mommy Knits said...

Love the scarf and the color is great! Thanks for the knitting tip, I love that I am inspired and learn something when I read your posts.

tiennie said...

What a great color on you! It's just beautiful!

Sherry said...

When you 1st posted this entry I looked quickly & have been meaning to come back & read it thoroughly & comment. I didn't until today & my timing could not have been better. You've helped me decide on a project to knit this weekend ... Baktus! I don't know how I missed this lovely pattern. Thanks for helping me with one of the biggest decisions for the weekend ... what will I knit?

The Farmer's Market & Craft Fair look like great fun. I think it's nice that Mr. Puffy doesn't like to go ... it's more fun for his parents to have some time out without the furry son:-).

knittingdragonflies said...

I have started my scarf with some handspun, I came back to look at your photos again. And thanks for the tip, I have enough handpainted yarn for a hooded coat (in a manic phase I bought this) and your tip will help, I have been putting off starting it due to the instructions of knitting with two balls the entire coat.
Vicki

A South Park Republican said...

I love the colors in your scarf .. so summery and fresh and yummy!

Ally Jay said...

Such a citrusy feeling.