I can’t believe this is my first craft post of 2012. Then again, it hasn’t been a big crafting year with Sam and a PhD to keep me busy. This scarf  was actually knitted last year as a Christmas present for my dad. The pattern is called ‘manly scarf,’ but I think it could be worn by both men and women. I knitted it with a small needle size so the scarf ended up using a lot more wool than I thought it would (four balls). I say this because I managed to buy some of the wool on sale, but when I ran out I had to pay full price. So if you want to knit the scarf, get four balls up front. The scarf needed some blocking at the end to make it symmetrical and flat, but that quite an interesting process. The pattern is a simple two row repeat, and free from Shifting Stitches.

My second project is a fabric basket for Sam’s toys. I made it during May, 2012. Unfortunately the photograph doesn’t show the linen base (the same fabric as the handles), which I think is the best part. The pattern comes from Pink Penguin, although for my basket I scaled it up by 250% as I needed it to be large. If I was going to make this basket for myself or as a gift, I’d skip the patchwork (it was fiddly and time consuming), and just use a patterned fabric. The look would be a little more sophisticated.