Beginning Kristin's scarf

Did you see Groundhog Day? That's what this week and last week have felt like. I suppose there's a certain amount of comfort in the routine, but I'll be glad to get to the point where it doesn't feel like I have ever minute of the day scheduled.

Kristin showed me how to weave in the ends yesterday. I have a lot of that to do. While I should have done some last night, I put it off. Instead I worked on the scarf I'm knitting her for Christmas.

While I don't think she's been able to keep up with this blog during the nonstop screenings this month--a perfectly understandable situation--I am going to be vague just in case she takes a peek. I put a lot of thought into what kind of yarn to use. I'm happy with what I picked, and I can't wait to see how it looks when all the knitting is finished. I browsed some patterns but didn't find exactly what I was seeking. So, I've undertaken the task of designing something myself.

That sounds more impressive than it actually is, but it did involve math and some trial and error on paper. Knitting a scarf for Kristin feels like the culmination of everything she's taught me so far, and I want to make her proud. I'd say that her scarf is like a final exam, but those are never enjoyable while her scarf should be a lot of fun to make.

I knew how wide and how long I wanted it to be. I employed this blog as a resource to check on what needles and how many stitches I've used on other projects. It helped take the guesswork out of determining the gauge. Ready to go, I cast on the stitches and slowly knitted.

I was tired--big surprise--and knew that I would be better off taking my time than trying to knit at my usual speed. I knitted a few rows and saw that some stitches had bunched up at the end of a row. For the first several rows I have to be careful about not wrapping the yarn around part of the project's knitted portion. I'm pretty sure that's what I did here, so I frogged it and started again. No big deal.

The restart was going much better. I was taking my time and enjoying the simple act of knitting. My concentration must have drifted because after fifteen rows I noticed a small indentation at the end of an earlier row. I unknitted two rows to fix it but ended up dropping a stitch along the way. I removed the needle and frogged the next row. What I forgot to pay attention to was how the needle should be reinserted. I think I did it correctly, but as I saw in my tenth FO, the next row I knitted looked purled on one side. Since I wasn't that far into the scarf, I didn't have to accept this bad row. That's right, I frogged it again.

It was just past midnight, and I knew I needed to get to bed. Knitting brought back some sharpness to my muddled brain. I wanted to knit but knew it would be better for me and better for the scarf if I hit the sack. After an evening's effort, Kristin's scarf was a single slipknot on a needle. I take it as a sign of progress, though, that I'm not reluctant to rip out what I've done and start over.

Next...more knitting, of course.