Beyond the Fringe

[landolphe]

Gawd, Gawd, dawlin', I knowed fore ah stahted dat ah aint knowed nuttin bout no fringe, but I done dived in, an' ah aint ougtha shoulda done dat, no, chere, no, no.

I just finished a super bulky scarf with Lion Boucle and Patons Pebbles, run together, all knit with knit bind off. Not yet having suffered enuf, I decided to add some fringe. The two yarns yield a visually very busy scarf, so I decided to be modest with the fringe. Scarf is 10 stitches wide, so I opted to befringe five stitches, evenly spaced at 1-3/4-5-7/8-10 (bulky boucle hides far graver errors than this one). Chose to use 2 doubled 12" strands of the boucle, cuz it was the more appealing color.

I knotted the ends of each strand, hoping to minimize the fuzzy unraveling. Well, that was only partially successful. (Is it acceptable knitting form to recall a scarf periodically for refringeing?).

Looks OK, but I can see that ongoing unraveling is inevitable, knots notwithstanding <g>. Seeking another solution, I recalled having seen the barber (two or three hundred years ago) singe the ends of my father's hair after trimming, so I tried singeing the fuzzy ends of the yarn. Because the boucle is 79% acrylic-20% mohair-1% nylon the ends did melt and fuse. BUT the ends are black and the yarn is cream.

Is there any hope for this fringe malady, or should I just say OK and keep on keepin' on?

From beyond the fringe,

Landolphe

[brendajos]

hrmmm...well this feels like a lot of worrying over a scarf but hrmmm...

They do make Fraycheck stuff for sewing which is supposed to keep fabric from...well...fraying. That might work. I am not sure if it REALLY is but I have always assumed it is essentially clear nail polish and have just used that to keep things from fraying because I have that in my house and don't have to go to Hancock's for it! (you have NO idea how much i can't ignore pretty fabric!)

you might be able to dip the ends in something like tacky glue too, which usually dries clear.

pretty much any treatment you do though, i would think, is going to create a hard pointy end.

why not embrace the yarn's natural tendancy and go a little bohemian!

[landolphe]

Thanks for those two tips: "REVIVA-NAIL TO THE RESCUE". I love it. But, if let it all hang out, so to speak, will I be in breach of knitter etiquette? Since the scarf is to be a gift, would it be totally gauche to include a discrete mini-ball of fringe yarn in the gift box? Better men's dress shirts always come with extra buttins sewed ionto the front tail. I mean, after all!

Cheers,

Landolphe

[brendajos]

I think that is an outstanding idea. They could use it to stitch up any holes too, if need be. Nothing wrong with it. Put a little note on it to explain what it is for, and care instructions for the scarf.

[landolphe]

You have helped me to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

Lando

[landolphe]

Well, the scarf was a huge success! It prompted an immediate request for a matching hat. Hats I can do, but I have never made one using two bulky, fuzzy yarns run together. The scarf yarns were very stretchy and neither was very strong. On the US 35 needles, it knit up at 1 .5 sts = 1". The finished scarf measured 6" wide (10 stitches) unstretched and readily stretched to 12".

I am questioning if I should attempt the hat on 35s or try smaller needles. Next size down I have are US 19s. I'll do it in the round.

On my usual ski hats (72 sts CO), I do about 4" of headband in k2p2 ribbing for a snug, non-floppy fit. On 35s, I guess I could manage to do k2p2. If on smaller needles, it would get difficult to each stitch clearly (lotsa hair, fuzz, & boucle).

Should I use smaller needles? Size? Should I do a ribbed headband?
How to calculate number of cast-on stitches for whichever needle size?

From Beyond the Fringe and Under the Brim,

Landolphe [/i]