Stylin'

Ruggles Original Reversible Scarf

Yarn: Knit Picks Elegance (70% baby alpaca, 30% silk; DK weight)
Color: Cornflower
Needles: US 6s
Stitches: 40

I started this scarf a month ago and really wanted to finish it today. The weather has slowly warmed here, but it is still cool enough at times that wearing a scarf can be merited. Who knows how many days remain before the scarves must be put away for months. The opportunity to wear my own handiwork provided enough motivation to spend a few hours knitting the last several inches.

March has been a busy month, so I thought it might be nice to have a quiet afternoon with no TV or music, just me and my knitting. It didn't last long. Perhaps I couldn't stand listening to my brain spin, or I was bored with the ten row repeat. Whatever the case, I had to turn on the television as accompaniment.

I found inspiration in a cinematography documentary and a photography special on Ovation TV. I would hate to think that I can longer just be but must have some other distraction in the background.

While I did stitch after I gained greater appreciation for the knitting flurry I had as soon as I learned. I know that those were mostly garter stitch scarves on larger needles, thus meaning they didn't require as much time as my latest FO, but wow, I must have been a man possessed to knit as much as I did in that period of time.

I tried to use as much of the yarn as possible before binding off. In the end the scarf measures approximately 78 inches long and 4 inches wide. I've been in the habit of employing the long-tail cast on and used it for this scarf even though a stretchy edge isn't necessary for this item. Because I am fond of symmetry, I wanted to find an equivalent bind off. The best I could find was Elizabeth Zimmerman's sewn bind off. It seemed like an easy method and a familiar one from sewing the toes for socks, so I gave it a shot. I still ended up with something of a bell-shaped end, but the same is true for the cast on end. It's just how I do it, I guess. The edges match more or less, though, which makes me happy.

I'm really pleased with how the scarf looks, especially against my dark blue overcoat. It's striking, not to mention luxurious to wear because of the baby alpaca and silk yarn. Chic is hardly a word I would use to describe myself, but I feel like it applies when wearing this scarf. I'm also proud of the time and hard work I put into making it. And isn't that what we seek to get out of knitting?