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!