French Knitting: Not As Sexy As It Sounds

It really should be sexy but it isn't. It's actually the kind of craft where you can completely switch off. You've probaly done it as a child, you use the plastic thing below and wool. You don't have to think, it's a great way to wind down.

Here are my instructions on How To Do French Knitting:

Start with a slip-knot around one of the prongs with the tail end of your wool through the centre, wind the long end of the wool once round the other prongs, turning the reel as you work. Once you've gone round them all wrap your wool around the pins above the loops already on your prongs. Use a blunt needle (French knitting kits usually come with a plastic pin) to pick up the bottom loop on the first prong and pull it over the top loop. Repeat this and keep pulling very gently downwards on the tail end of your original loop to work your knitting through the plastic jobby (I'm sure it's got a name).
So far I've made this:I've decided to make a rug/blanket/artwork kind of thing. I'm going to join it in a circle as below.I've lots more to do to get it big enough to qualify as a blanket. It's about 80cm in diameter so far. I can't help thinking it looks a little like the Eye Of Jupiter from Battlestar Gallactica.

Checkerboard Scarf

I'm in the process of knitting a chessboard scarf. I've always wanted to knit chessboard patterns but everytime I've tried it the squares were not joined together. I stumbled upon this video tutorial last week and I'm now please to announce I'm 14 inches into a successful cheesboard scarf! I'm still not sure what I was doing wrong in the past but at least now I seem to have mastered it.

I'll post pictures later.