Stash Scarf

Last night I was up until 2am finishing this scarf, but it is done! My late night knitting was fueled by an America's Next Top Model marathon (I never professed to have good taste in television so don't judge me too harshly) and I was able to get it blocking before I went to bed. I forgot just how amazing blocking is, before I soaked this scarf the purl ridges were super close and this scarf was super short. It was not my favorite project and I was fretting about the proportions: too wide and too short. But, one magic bath and a whole lot of pins later and my scarf r e l a x e d and stretched out.
I'm now very happy with this little guy, and come Christmas I will be able to gift it without shame! Not only is it longer but the fabric is now much more open and relaxed, giving it a nice drape. It should look cute either slung simply around the neck, or doubled up and pulled through the loop (my personal favorite for wearing scarves or pashminas). I'm happy it worked out since I completely improvised on the pattern and instead of doing the feather and fan all the way through the scarf I decided to have it be more solid in the parts around the neck (for warmth and stability of the fabric, and honestly, I just got sick of doing feather and fan). I did two separate parts since the feather and fan stitch has a "direction" and I wanted them to match, once the two sides were knit up I just used the Kitchener stitch to graft the two sides together. Presto!
The best part is that this was stash yarn. A good friend of mine sent me a box full of spare yarn (stash) and some knitting books a couple months ago in preparation for her first baby arriving. I have had a lot of fun finding projects for this gifted yarn. Plus I love any project where I use up some of my stash and this scarf used EVERY LAST BIT of the two skeins that I had.

Goodbye clutter, hello finished project!

I'm back?

I apologize for my absenteeism, and for what I'm sure will be more of the same in the future. Let me explain by saying that being done with school forever is not as easy as I thought it would be. I completed my Masters degree in May and am now trying to find a job in a competitive and seemingly declining profession. I'm not a big fan of unknowns, I'm a planner, and lately I feel like my life can be summed up as this "no job, no place to live in September, and no idea where our wedding will be." My fiance has taken over the apartment searching which thankfully leaves me with just job searching and intermittent wedding planning.After I graduated I thought I would do a lot of knitting on our road trip but I ended up just relaxing and looking at the scenery. Then once we got back I slept a lot, read a ton of great books, and kept applying to jobs. It took me awhile to rest up and get back into all the projects I thought I would accomplish during my unemployed summer. It has only been in these last couple weeks that I've felt the urge to knit at all (I blame part of this on the obscene heat wave on the east coast) but first I felt I had to tackle some loose ends around my apartment. I cleaned, and cleaned, and organized, and felt so much better about the world. Above you can see my knitting and sewing supplies, all now tidily organized, bizarre stash purged, other stash sorted into future projects and ziplocked up, and finished objects set aside for Christmas (I even sewed a little bag to hold all my buttons and thread). Once our entire apartment was cleaned and organized, I finally felt like knitting again!
This little cowl was the one project I worked on during our road trip and it needs to be finished up. I'd like to add a little picot edge, and sew on a button so it can be worn snug or loose (and I'll conveniently place where I have a wonky stitch happening for a little cover-up).But first I've been working on this scarf. I dug into my stash and have decided to make it a stash busting Christmas (three hats for future sister-in-laws are done). This scarf will take up a spare skein and a half, and then I have some cowls, hats, and fingerless mitts planned to take a chunk out of my hefty yarn supply. I know my stash is microscopic compared to most knitters, but I've never loved having a lot of stuff around so my two little baskets full feels like a LOT to me!

So I guess I am somewhat back in the knitting world, or at least organized and ready to start digging into projects a little bit more.