The New/Old/As Yet Unfinished Project AKA The Companion Year Long Scarf to the Year Long Hat(s)

The re-arranging in my room certainly has it's benefits as well as dust bunnies. I've come upon some 'missing' yarn.

A couple of years ago, my friend Juls commissioned me to make knitted hats for her and her mother.

I don't do very well with knitting project deadlines, however I cannot say 'no' to a knitting project. Back to my story...

My dear and sweet friend Julie asked me to knit a hat for her mother. Julie's mom had recently survived chemotherapy and needed a warm hat for her cold head. I happily agreed. We rendevouzed at The Naked Sheep Knit Shop here in North Portland where Julie picked out yarn and a pattern. Along the way she asked if I would knit her a hat as well and with the same pattern. Again, I happily agreed. Julie is dear to me and by extension, so is her mom.

As I stated previously, I don't do very well at all with knitting project deadlines. I won't go into the gnarly details, but suffice it to say, it took something like a year for me to knit both hats. I must be clearly indicate that I knit plenty of things in that year, but I lolly-gagged around with these hats. Eventually they were complete. The yarn was beyond lovely....a baby Alpaca soft dream to touch and knit. The mom hat was a beautiful lavender and the Julie hat was a rich cream. Somewhere along the line a scarf was discussed. The mom had made it to the mom in time for a holiday visit. The Julie hat was complete in time for her business trip to Europe. The scarf, well the scarf went nowhere, life continued and last July, knitting stopped for me completely, but that is another story.

A year later I'm sorting through my room and re-arranging and here I find the scarf yarn. The rich creamy baby Alpaca is a delight to touch. I've been mulling over the last few days, since I found the yarn, just what pattern to use, what size needles, etc. I had actually started and ripped back this scarf multiple times, but nothing seem to feel right. I have learned to put a project away if it doesn't feel right.

My current lavatory reading is "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Knitting and Crocheting" something like that....it's an okay book, but I won't subject you to a review at this time. That being said, in the finishing section, there were instructions on how to prevent an edge from curling by creating a selvage. Turns out I've done this on every heel flap I've made and not noticed that this simple slipping of the first stitch prevents the sides from curling it. EPIPHANY! I instantly knew what to do with this new found knowledge...the scarf.

So I've cast on the scarf and ripped it out once and cast on again. The scarf is knit in the same pattern of the hats...basic garter stitch with a contrasting column every seven stitches. The big question now is, will it take me a year to finish this scarf? I hope not. Julie, don't hold your breath dear friend.

Enough blogging digression, off to knit some more creamy baby Alpaca.