Needlework without a needle

August 9, 2007 at 9:39 pm | Posted in All Finished Crafts, Craft - Books, Craft - People, Craft - Websites, Food, Misc. | 3 Comments

It is probably the fastest and the longest scarf I’ve ever made. This project was started on Monday, when I was making Cha-siu (a.k.a. Barbecued pork). After spending a few hours on Tuesday and Wednesday when I was watching movies in the evening, and I finished it (1.5m long) last night, before the movie is over. 😀

The reason the scarf can go so quickly is that I didn’t use any needles. Actually, I have been looking for a crochet hook of larger size in the town for a while, but I didn’t find any. The most frequently seen sizes are from .75mm-4mm, while my target is 5+mm. Since a large crochet is not a must, I didn’t want to go for Internet. I usually prefer shopping by chance. For instance, the yarn I used for this scarf was found among many discount stuffs for only 49 cents (200g in total) due to the missing brand tag. 😛

The only “tools” I used are my fingers. No knitting needles and no crochet hooks! It’s a little different from what is described as finger knitting on Wikipedia. The technique is more close to Afghan stitch, however, not exactly the same. I learned it from Kuniko Shinohara(篠原 くにこ)’s book ゆびあみはじめてのレッスン. The book introduced many basic finger knitting techniques and includes a bunch of simple projects. I never did Afghan stitch before (coz I don’t have a Afghan hook), therefore I thought it would be more interesting to try this stitch rather than general finger knitting/crocheting. Scarf is no wonder the best choice for a beginner like me. IMHO, scarfs are basically some over-sized swatches/gauges.

I don’t have beautiful slim fingers and my index fingers are particularly not-so-slim. That’s probably the reason why my stitches look even looser than those in the book. Hubby had been suggesting that I should use my little finger when I was doing the scarf. Maybe I should try next time. Anyhow, the scarf is very light thanks to my fat fingers, which makes it quite suitable for the current cold weather and also for the city. We’ve already got 12 months of autumn. It’s 14 degrees outside right now! I think it works well with these spaghetti-strapped tanks and was wearing it for a while last night, but hubby said it was weird and it was hard to tell the season. Well, whichever season in Germany. 😀

It’s pretty difficult to get a nice picture on such a raining day. Inspired by Tania Ho‘s great picture, I took another shot of the scarf on a coat hanger. I am a little jealous of her cute hanger though. 😛

BTW: Here is the picture of one piece of the Char-siu I made on Monday. Our guests seemed to like it.

And, I did a little quiz. Although I dunno much about yarns, I like this picture of Shetland wool. 😛

You are Shetland Wool. You are a traditional sort who can sometimes be a little on the harsh side. Though you look delicate you are tough as nails and prone to intricacies. Despite your acerbic ways you are widely respected and even revered. Take this quiz!