A confession

I recently took up several scarf projects.

Three scarves of the same pattern, same needle size, and in the same color but different yarn (so not *really* the same color, but still...).
I am done with one, half way on the other and have already wound the skeins for the third.

This project, which has the side benefit of showing off how different yarns handle cables, is so that I can having something to work on at work. The shawl I am working on has reached a point in the pattern that interruptions by customers could have a dangerous outcome. Not that I have been knitting the shawl at home either. I figure I just need a little break before tackling the next section which has nubs (a new technique for me).

During all of this, I decided I should make a scarf for an old friend. You know, a light something to knit when watching TV, because the shawl needs no distractions, you see. So I asked him what his favorite color was. I picked a super simple pattern that had a great texture and would be just fine for a guy. Then I settled on a yarn from my stash, because knitting from stash is very important and makes any project justifiable.

It is a very nice yarn. Soft and thick with layers of color qualities! Absolutely gorgeous! I had two skeins in the requested blue, two in brick red and two in bright red. In two days I knit up the scarf. It is perfect. The pattern, with one adjustment for knitting without turning, came out even better than I could have hoped for in this fluffy yarn. The scarf has already received acclaim for those who have come in contact with it. This scarf is everything one could love about a non-lace scarf.

Well, almost everything. The one thing it is not, is mine.

I have already promised it out. It ships this weekend. Soon it will travel 1500 miles away and hopefully be appreciated and not regifted. (I will hunt him down and do serious damage to him if this scarf ends up in the possession of another.)

So now I have four skeins of this yarn in colors I dare not wear. They can not fix this problem.

There is a fix though. A very simple one. One that even comes with a bonus of the words "SALE"......

So yeah. Yarn diet? That was so last year.... right?

Addictions and their many forms

I have often read about people who are addicted to sock knitting.
Some are hooked on crocheting blankets. (See what I did there; hooked, crochet... why are you covering your eyes?)

I think I might have an addiction. Well, one besides collecting yarn and making scarves. I do so love the ease and adventure of scarves.

Now, I think I might be a bit caught up on lace shawls.

I have several books on the subject. My queue is heavy with them and my yarn collection has an obvious leaning toward lace weight and such.

In fact, while I am currently working on one shawl, waiting for blocking wires for another shawl, I have already started sorting out shawl patterns for some stashed yarn.
Currently, I am leaning toward the North Roë Shawl or the Aeolian Shawl (both are listed in Ravelry).

We shall see if this last through the part on my current project where I have over two hundred stitches and more for each row. (The next to the last row is 323 stitches across).

Starting over, at least on some things

A mere five days ago, I took some beautiful Malabrigo Sock yarn and settled down with a pattern for it.

I had completed the cast on and the 9 setup rows, as well as 4 repeats of Chart 1 of 4 (I do not count the setup row chart, I don't think it needs a chart number).

Then I dropped a stitch. A stitch that was actually part of a decrease and may have taken out another stitch with it.

I did try to pick it up, but it was no good. The stitches got away from me and I had to start over.
So I did what any sane woman would do.

I reset the project start date in Ravelry, bullied through to the first of fourteen repeats of the main pattern chart and then walked away from it.

Tomorrow it will look smaller but not terrible much different from before the accident. I am glad I was only so many repeats in. Had I been farther along, some nearby bystander might have been injured.