Miss M's First Scarf

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Miss M's first scarf is completed, the Asherton Toddler Scarf. It's a short scarf that stays secure by slipping one end through a hole at the other end. The short ends should reduce any strangulation hazard that could arise from using a long dangling type scarf. I can just visualize something bad happening with those long dangling types at the escalator, elevator, and slides.

Pooh Bear is a great model who is able to stay still long enough for me to take a photo. However I was lucky enough to get a relatively in-focus shot of Miss M wearing her scarf...

Her scarf is about 28 inches long. She wore it in the morning and didn't want to take it off when I told her she was overheating. Toddlers are stubborn that way. They wear jackets on hot days, and refuse to put on on when it is cold.

I mentioned in a previous post that this was inspired by a bow-knot scarf that Barbara pointed out to me. Someone else informed me that the type of scarf I made is also called a keyhole scarf. Same shishkabob, different texture I guess.

Yarn: Cleckheaton Country 8 Ply (100% superwash wool -- DK weight, 22 st per 4 inches on 4mm/US6 needles -- 96m/105yd per 50 gm ball)
Needles: 4mm (US6)

Miss M's scarf is based on the Asherton Scarf pattern. I only worked half the pattern so that the moss stitch diamonds aren't staggered; I wanted them aligned vertically. You can always work the full pattern, rows 1 to 44, if desired. I guess I should make her a matching Asherton Toddler Hat in this same purple yarn; she already has two, one in light pink and one in dark pink. Here's what I did to modify it into a keyhole/bow-knot type scarf for her:

Cast on 36 stitches, not caring about selvedge stitches.

Knit 6 repeats of rows 1 to 24, but worked (row 1 of) the slit on row 24 of the 6th repeat.

Slit Row 1: Work 14 stitches of pattern (row 24), bind off 8 stitches, work 13 stitches.
Slit Row 2: Work 14 stitches of pattern (row 1), cast on 8 stitches, work 14 stitches.

(Note, the stitch left on your needle after binding off the 8th stitch, added to the 13 stitches you work after working the slit, will form the 14 stitches on that side of the slit.)

Continue to work 2 more repeats of the pattern (beginning with row 2, since you worked row 1 when you did "slit row 2"). Then bind off.

At first I made the slit too big by binding off 10 stitches in the middle of the row, so I reduced it to 8 stitches and it seems perfect for the yarn I'm using. I think the number of stitches in the slit would vary depending on what type of yarn I use. Of course the number would also vary if the number of stitches cast on is different.

To make scarf wider or if using thinner yarn, cast on more stitches in multiples of 12.

To make scarf narrower or if using thicker yarn, cast on less stitches in multiples of 12.

Add 2 extra stitches if you want a nice selvedge edge (slip 1st stitch of every row with yarn in front as if to purl, knit last stitch of every row).

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Look what I found!!!

Some gals at Ravelry's Cup'a Tea group raved about PG Tips. Having never heard of it before I set out in search of it. This was not an easy task. I finally found it at Cost Plus at the Hillsdale Shopping Center in San Mateo, CA. There's probably a Cost Plus closer to me in the south bay, will have to do a search.

The first box I saw at the store was a DCaf version. The second box I saw was a Special Blend version. I didn't see this Regular Blend until I walked around another display rack, cuz it wasn't grouped together with the other two. All came in boxes of 80 bags. I definitely didn't want the DCaf version, and had no idea whether I should choose the Regular Blend or Special Blend. I couldn't remember what the gals on Ravelry said, I don't think they specified which flavor. So I picked the Regular Blend to start with. I have no idea what difference there is between the Regular Blend and Special Blend. Anybody know?

I've made this tea 4 times so far and it's not bad with a splash of milk. I didn't know what to expect when I opened the box. I was a bit surprised to find all the teabags in the paper box. I thought they would be individually foil wrapped or something. Since I didn't have an available tea tin to put all those pyramid shaped tea bags in, I put the entire box in a large plastic bag instead. However I may just move all the bags into a Zip-Lock bag instead.

Ok, drinking several cups of this tea in mid-afternoon is probably not helping me with my (inability to fall asleep) sleep issues.

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I just remembered that I had mentioned I would be sharing some of the Rubber Stamp Mail Art I have received. Here are a few more...



There are times when I think I should get back into stamping, but when would I find the time? And where would I put all the supplies??? My yarnmoire is full and overflowing. Half the cupboard is full of yarn (yes, there is some space for my clothes, only because I don't have a lot of clothes), and there are large plastic boxes full of yarn in the bedroom.

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I am starting to think about Miss M's Christmas presents this year. So far we have a giant Pooh Bear and a Lego Duplo Doll's House set (#4966). I'm entertaining the idea of picking up a Tickle Me Elmo, but I have never seen one in person so don't know yet. Amazon shows a regular Tickle Me Elmo and a Tickle Me Elmo Extra Special Edition. Not sure which one is better. Either way, I think it will be something that will delight Miss M and probably drive us crazy after a short time.

Every time I look at the Lego box, I have this great desire to open it and play with it myself. I think part of it is because I did not have any Legos of my own when I was a kid.

Pooh Bear was a bit dusty/dirty from being dragged, stepped on, and who knows what else before we rescued him from the Disney Store so I wanted to give him a bath before wrapping him up. Miss M can identify Pooh Bear by his bottom, I think there's something very distinctive about his coloring. Anyhow, I attempted to wash this Pooh Bear a couple weeks ago when M was napping one day. Can't have her see Pooh Bear as I take him from my closet to the washer in the garage, you know. I only realized how large Pooh Bear was when I got to the washer and saw that he was too big for my top-loading washer. So we took him to my MIL's house where she recently replaced her old top-loader with one of those new front-loaders. Pooh Bear will do nicely in there.

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Will it ever go away???

I seem to have the opposite problem of Barbara, whose blog disappeared from the face of the planet a while back, and then later on, her email address through her DSL provider disappeared too. Well, I have the opposite problem to hers. I can't get a service to go away.

As some of you may know, we moved house in early September. We decided to cancel our DSL service at our Old House since we were no longer using it over there and didn't feel we needed to continue paying $64.95 for a service we no longer used. Well, our DSL just won't go away. Here's how it went...

9/17/07:

Called My Local Phone Company (MLPC) to disconnect DSL service.

10/22/07:

Our next bill still showed the $64.95 DSL charge for service between 9/22/07 to 10/21/07.

Called MLPC. Spoke to Y, who handles Business DSL. (Don't know why calling their main customer support number for internet services automatically dumps you to the Business DSL dept, but it does this every time I call them). Got transferred to J, who confirmed that their records showed that we called them on 9/17/07 to disconnect DSL, but she said the service didn't actually get disconnected. She removed the $64.95 DSL charge from the bill and then transferred me to another dept that handles the actual DSL disconnect. Spoke to N, who disconnected the DSL and provided me with a confirmation number.

So I thought this was a done deal, until...

11/19/07:

... until I received my next bill which showed a $64.95 DSL charge for service from 10/22/07 to 11/21/07.

Called MLPC again. I should mention that it is not a simple matter of just calling and getting things done with these people. You spiral through a maze, talk to several people, get put on hold for an eternity (and wonder whether they hung up on you). Of course I got dumped into the Business DSL dept and had to get transferred to the Residential DSL dept. Spoke to M, who made a bill adjustment and she also confirmed that the DSL was already disconnected (so no action required on her part for that). I'm a bit skeptical about the competency of MLPC. Anyhow, since we are also not using phone service at the Old House, I asked to be transferred to the Phone Service Dept. I spoke to someone there who disconnected the phone service and provided a confirmation number.

So here's the million dollar question. Will I be charged $64.95 for DSL service on my next bill? Will I also still be charged for phone service on my next bill? We'll have to wait another month to see what happens...

I am not holding my breath. Seems to me that this sort of thing shouldn't be so difficult. The funny thing is during the time I'm on the phone with them to get DSL or phone service disconnected, the person on the phone is also trying to sell me other service "packages" that MLPC offers.

For a separate issue, we called MLPC on 11/5/07 to see if my email address associated with our Old DSL acct could be transferred over to our New DSL acct. Both Old and New DSL accts were from the same company, MLPC. You'd think it should be no big deal. But to make a long story short, they can't do it.


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