Knitting Scarves

I started this scarf last week. It is a beautiful cashmere yarn, purchased at the close-out sale of Creative Corner in West Des Moines, and the pattern was a bit of a challenge to learn. Now that I have the pattern figured out, I am starting to get the thought I always have when I knit a scarf. Am I done yet?? I know it will be beautiful and very soft. But I only have 8 inches done. The pattern is no longer challenging in the "am I good enough to figure it out?" way. It is just disruptive enough to keep me looking at the pattern every other row, so it keeps me from attaining that completely mindless state that easy knitting brings on.

I wonder whether this is a reflection of how I live my life. New projects and new challenges always keep my interest, but once the initial challenge is met, it takes a lot of perseverance to keep at it. I will finish it, because it will be a beautiful gift for someone, so long as I can continue to keep the white yarn away from the dogs and cats. I can't promise that I won't start the sweater for daughter Nikki in the meantime, though!

New Tricks for Old Dogs

This year I have been working on some projects on quite small needles, and find my knitting technique is causing some finger discomfort. Okay - I admit to having a pretty numb index finger. I use my own version of the continental knitting stitch and a throwing version for purl stitches. Some of my friends do a quick continental for both knit and purl; their fingers hardly ever touch the tips of the needles. Using the wonders of the internet, I have been watching the available demonstration videos and am pretty sure I will either learn the more hand healthy technique, or will go back to my old ways and live with the pins and needles in my finger.

Actually, the knitting part is getting to be a bit better for me, and I see some hope for improvement, but the purling - that is going to take some doing. Maybe it will be like some yoga poses - months of being unable to achieve a pose, followed by unexpted enlightenment and proper alignment. I'll keep working on it. More later.

Finished and Unfinished Projects

I finished a knitting project this weekend, and when doing some cleaning came across an unfinished embroidery project I must have started 25-30 years ago. It is in wonderful shape and is about 2/3rds complete. I enjoy the knitting process as much as the final product, and am a bit disappointed I remember nothing about the unfinished embroidery project. Did I like working on it? Did I put it down for a reason? Who was I making it for? The mystery of the day - will I ever finish it? Will I throw it away unfinished?

I hope I remember working on the knitting project I just finished. I bought the yarn for this beautiful shawl, shown on my profile picture, in Galena Illinois on a weekend trip with my girlfriends and our daughters. She was expecting our grandson, who is now almost a year old. I knit it in the car on visits to our children and granchildren, watching the 2009 NCAA basketball tournament, and when I should have been working on projects more pressing to my everyday life. The yarn (Noro Silk Garden) was such a pleasure to knit - it was luxurious, the vareigation in the colors was so beautiful, and the pattern was challenging but enjoyable. And the knots! The shawl was complete in the early spring, but it took me months to finish the knotted fringe. That's the way it always is for me. The finishing touches are the most difficult.