Sunday, January 04, 2015

Happy New Year!

This December may have been the craziest month ever. My husband's birthday, our 12th wedding anniversary, a graduation party for a friend who finished up her masters, a mad rush to complete Christmas crafts (which of course could not be blogged until after they were gifted), a trip back home for the holidays, a wedding, out of town guests, and to top it all off, a terrible case of the flu that had me on my ass for nigh two weeks. I'm spent! And now, life must return to normal (because I just might die if it doesn't).

The good news is I've got lots to share with you now that the presents have all been opened. But first! How about a little glimpse of my new favorite accessory?

Mini Mania Wrap & Earwarmer

That's right! I finally finished my Mini Mania Scarf!

Mini Mania Wrap & Earwarmer

At 18 inches wide and 76 inches long, it's really more of a shawl than a scarf. It's worked lengthwise in linen stitch, and I used up lots of my leftover sock yarn. I cut my yarn at the end of each row and knotted them every 6 rows for a built-in fringe. Casting on 600 stitches and working a total of 268 rows means that 160,800 stitches went into creating this behemoth. And with each row taking abut 30 minutes (20 minutes if I'm concentrating, 40 if I'm watching tv at the same time), that's 134 hours of my time wrapped around my shoulders. Worth it.

Mini Mania Wrap & Earwarmer

I decided to also create a matching headband/earwarmer/mini-cowl thingy. As I began to run out of each yarn, if I didn't have enough left for another 600-stitch row, I would work a couple 135-stitch rounds until that yarn was all gone. Finishing up at 109 rounds, we can add another 14,715 stitches to the total.

Mini Mania Wrap & Earwarmer

And at a mere 5 minutes per round, it only took me an additional 9 hours to make this guy. It ended up being about 6 inches wide and 18 stitches around, but it stretches quite a bit to fit around my ginormous noggin.

Mini Mania Wrap & Earwarmer

Altogether, I managed to clear 532 grams, or 2166 yards, of yarn out of my stash. And now my head and torso can stay oh-so-toasty all winter long.

16 comments:

  1. Very nice, Carissa! Warm, pretty and fashionable!

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    1. Thanks! I've gotten compliments on it pretty much every time I've worn it so far!

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  2. Looks really warm and cosy :)

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  3. Hi Carissa!
    I love it so much!
    Love the colours, so beautiful!
    My December was also a crazy one: I was also sick, my mom got sick, the presents I had to make and shop...
    One of the things I made for this Christmas was ear warmers to my daughter and her best friend: 5 for my daughter and 2 for her friend!
    Happy New Year Carissa!
    Kisses from Portugal!

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    1. December always seems hectic with all the holiday hustle-and-bustle, but this year really wiped me out. Sorry to hear I wasn't the only one under the weather.
      7 ear warmers!?! That's a lot of love! I hope your daughter and her friend appreciated them.

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  4. WOW, Carissa ! The shawl-ly scarf is beautiful and unique as is the headband. It is the calculations that are astounding ! You definitely are "gifted" with many talents !

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    1. I shocked myself a bit with those calculations. I can't believe so much time and yarn went into this!

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  5. Welcome back! You are one of my diy/refashion blog favorites and I've missed your posts! I love your scarf/shawl. Superb!!

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  6. Happy new year to. Your carf is just amasing !

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  7. That scarf/shawl is utterly gorgeous. What a piece to have in your wardrobe!

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    1. I love it! I've probably worn it at least 3 times a week since I finished it.

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  8. I had to look up if that linen stitch could be done in crochet. I just love how it looks when used with multiple colors of yarn!!!

    JJ
    www.dressupnotdown.blogspot.com

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    1. I know I've seen Tunisian crochet, which has a similar look to knitted fabric. So maybe there's a way to replicate the linen stitch. Unfortunately, I'm not that knowledgeable about crochet though, so I'm afraid I can't be very helpful.

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