FO: Evergreen Scarf

My knitting productivity has been abysmal for the past, oh, six months. All of 2009 was a pretty slow year for knitting - I finished a measly six projects last year - but it's been even worse since I got home from Korea. I've only finished one project in the four months since I've been home, and that was half completed before I left. I shutter at the thought that 2010 might be worse, but I have to face the facts. It's almost February and I still haven't finished a single project. Until, that is, last night. Turns out, all I really need to motivate me to knit my fingers to the bone is the possibility of beautiful FO pictures.

A few weeks ago, while watching my sister squeal over a bouclé scarf I'd knit and given to her a few years back, I made the mistake of mentioning that I had one last skein of bouclé still in my stash. Leah immediately begged me to knit it for her and for reason unknown (possible brain damage), I agreed. I cast on last weekend, but my progress has been sporadic. Garter stitch in bulky yarn does knit up super quick, but it's also incredible dull.

Yesterday, I woke up to predictions of a huge winter storm to roll through that afternoon and I realized if I could only finish this scarf, I could take the finished object photos in the snow. I immediately thought of pictures of the scarf being used while we made snowmen and roasted marshmallows over the burn pile or of a still life of the scarf draped artistically on a mound of snow. Everything looks good the morning after a snow storm! I sat down yesterday afternoon and knit straight through the beginnings of the storm until I was finished.


The Specs
Rav Link: Evergreen Scarf
Pattern: CO 22 stitches and knit until you run out of yarn
Yarn: Bernat Soft Bouclé in 26947 (1 skein; 255 yards)
Needles: 6 mm (US 10)
Length: 80 inches including fringe; six inches of fringe on either side


Of course, when I showed off the finished scarf this morning, I recieved more complements on this incredible simple scarf that I have on any elaborate project I've ever made. "Oh, it's so lovely," my family raved. "I just love the texture and the color. It's beautiful!" I tried not to roll my eyes and reminded myself that this is why you don't knit nice things for non-knitters.

FO: Lace Ribbon Scarf

It's been over a month since I last posted, which has more to do with my lack of knitting progress than my total lack of blogging motivation. (I have no such excuses for the lack of posting over at the other blog.) However, I finally *finally* finished my Lace Ribbon Scarf. I actually finished it almost a month ago, but between vacation and laziness, it took me nearly month to block and photograph the finished product.


The pattern was absolutely lovely. It didn't prove to be as quick of a knit as I hoped, but that's my fault for thinking I could knit a scarf in fingering weight in two weeks. It was an easy pattern to memorize and made for great plane and subway knitting. Plus, there was the added bonus of the final project looking super complicated and impressive to non-knitters.


Sea Wool wasn’t the best choice of yarn for the project. It is undeniable gorgeous, but I don’t love the way the blue and the pink pooled, or how they weren’t consistent throughout the skein. At one end there is lots of pink and blue while the other end is almost all green. I have another, more uniform, skein of Sea Wool and I'm looking forwards knitting with Sea Wool again.

The Specs:
Rav Link: Goodbye Scarf
Pattern: Lace Ribbon Scarf by Veronik Avery
Yarn: Fleece Artist Sea Wool in Lily Pond (1 skein; 382 yards)
Needles: 2.25 mm (US 1)
Mods: I didn’t have enough yarn, so I only cast on 44 stitches, giving me four pattern repeats instead of the five called for in the pattern. After blocking, the scarf was 71 inches long (almost six feet) and five inches wide. Not quite as long as I wanted, but a perfectly serviceable length.

The Doldrums

About three weeks ago (September 14th, according to Rav), shortly before I left Korea, I realized that I hadn't gotten my co-teacher a gift and while sure, I could always buy her a box of chocolates or some flowers, I wanted this gift be personal. I happened to already have a skein of Fleece Artist Sea Wool already balled and sitting on my desk and Knitty's Lace Ribbon Scarf waiting in my queue.

I quickly cast on and spent the next two weeks diligently knitting away. I knit at school in the afternoons, I knit in the evenings sitting in my apartment and I knit while out with friends, much to their amazement (Them: You're knitting! And walking! Me: Yes....). I knit on subway trips to and from Seoul and I even knit on the bus to and from school, which was a challenge. I eventually admitted that wasn't going to finish the scarf before I left for the US, but I was confident that I would finish the scarf on the plane rides home. I even went so far as to pack another project in my carry on, just in case I finished the project mid-Pacific and wanted something else to work on.

I've been home for a week and this scarf still isn't finished. It just will. not. end. I knit for hours each day and while the scarf is visible growing longer, my ball of yarn isn't get any smaller. And the crux of it all is that despite all the progress, the scarf is only four feet long, so I can't just stop and call it a day, but I'm not sure how much longer I can keep up this project dedication. It's Socktober, I have better things to knit!

The perils of knitting a scarf in fingering weight yarn, I guess.