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Dear Knitters and Crocheters,
It’s November 12th already, the days are shorter and the nights, longer. The leaves on the maples outside my window are brilliant yellow as they fall to the ground. The north wind brings a chill to my bones and I find myself thinking about the long, dark months ahead. We were so clever to have punctuated the winter doldrums with festivities, holidays, lights, delicious food and drink, rituals and gifts. Gifts! All of a sudden I panic as I begin to make a gift list for my friends and family. What can I give this year that will be special?
Every woman on my list seems to have so much “stuff” in her life, I am sure that she doesn’t want another knick-knack or tchotchka! My scarves were a hit last year and there are so many wonderful Berroco scarf yarns. So, it occurred to me that I still could give scarves again, but this year I will update them with a fashion twist. As I “brooch” the idea of scarf knitting for holiday gift giving, I have the inspiration to add still more “bling” to these items by adding the runway’s most popular accessory. I shall begin a quest for scarf pins at flea markets and second hand stores. There may even be some long forgotten pins from my mom and grandmother on the bottom of my jewelry box. If all else fails, I have seen tons of brooches at the mall at all price points.
Now for some new scarf ideas and yarn combos . . .
We’re posting free Web Exclusive instructions for the 4 lovely neck scarves pictured here.
As they are written, these scarves are wonderful furry and glitzy neck ornaments. You may also choose to knit any one of these wider or longer (add more stitches or knit more rows) and wrap it around your shoulders and fasten it with the brooch. We call these Ponchinis.
All these scarves knit up in a nano-second on huge needles. Starry Night is a combination of Zoom and Plume FX Metallic. Stripey Fur is a double strand of black Zoom and a double strand of brown Zoom. 
Enchanted Evening is a combination of Hush and Zoom knit together, and Snowball combines Zoom and Plush.
Plume FX Metallic, Zoom, Hush and Plush are soft and furry scarf yarn choices that are right in style for the winter. You can also go to Scarf Central to find many other scarf yarn combinations.
We have also posted a new poncho in the Poncho Fever section of our website. Shanaya is an easy rectangle that has one seam at the shoulder. It’s knit in Softy, our softer than ever Tactel™ nylon fur yarn with intermittent poufs of downy softness. You can fringe it or not for a warm and cozy cocoon that will keep you covered in soft style.
In the Holiday issue of Vogue Knitting there is a gorgeous tank top designed by Mari Lynn Patrick. Knit in Quest and Lazer FX, it’s perfect for the party season. 
For more holiday sparkle, there is a pattern for a wonderful Quest and Mirror FX scarf designed by Jil Eaton in the November 16th issue of Woman’s Day. Look for both magazines on the newsstand now.
Cathi from cyberspace wrote, “I am a fairly new knitter and I seem to have trouble keeping my stitch gauge consistent, at least initially in my project. It seems that my cast on stitches are tighter than the stitches in the following rows. Any suggestions or help would be greatly appreciated.”
Cathi, some people do tend to cast on tighter than they knit. Also there are some yarns have little if any stretch, for example, many chenilles and yarns that have been developed for weaving. Therefore, you may need to use a method to create larger stitches on the cast on row. In your case, I can recommend that you try casting on with a larger needle and then working the first row and all subsequent rows with the actual needle size you need for the gauge recommended. Some people cast on so tightly that they use both needles held together for the cast on row and then they slip one needle out as they continue to knit the piece. Another trick that some knitters use is to cast on with a double strand of yarn. This will also add durability to the bottom edge of a sweater.
All the best,
Margery Winter
Creative Director
Tactel® is a registered trademark of DuPont
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