What Scarf Number One Has Taught Me

   The first scarf in the Scarf Project is finished. After many hours of happy knitting, the green scarf is finally done. I washed it in the washing machine on delicate and hung it on a line to dry. I took a sticky roller and rolled off the few cat hairs that were clinging to it. (Colby insisted on sitting on my lap while I knitted.) I made it up into a neat roll. A few days later I delivered it to Denise, my oldest stepdaughter. She put it on right away. I was pleased with how it turned out. The shade of green complements her. I only wish I could have finished it sooner so she would have it to wear this winter.
 I'm learning something interesting from the Scarf Project. Knitting these scarves is a little like having children. (Before those of you that have children become offended, please let me explain.) My plan was to knit these scarves out of the same type of yarn using a different colour for each stepdaughter. (The colour is their favourite colour.) My plan was to randomly use different stitch patterns in the scarf. I start with one pattern and then move to another as I see fit. My original thought was that while each scarf have the same stich patterns in it, the patterns would be in different combinations. Each scarf would be unique, just like the one who will be wearing it.
  I'm finding that the first scarf is like your first born. There's no instruction manual. All you have is a few common sense things to go by, watching others and reading books. Along the way you learn things that don't work so well and you learn things that do. The end result may not be what you expected. It may not even be what you really wanted, but it was the best that you could do at the time. You have to be satisfied with that. You take what you've learned and apply it to child (or scarf) number two.
  I also learned that sometimes the pattern I've knitted does not look like the sample in the book. I know I've followed the directions exactly. This has always been a source of frustration to me all my life. I believe that if I follow the directions I should get the same result. It frustrates me when I don't. In knitting I have to take into consideration that the yarn in the sample may be different than the yarn I am using. I may be knitting more loosely than the one who knitted the sample. I'm learning to just relax and not worry so much if my piece doesn't match the book. The question I need to ask myself isn't "Does it match the book?" The question I should ask is,"Do I like the look?"
  I'm also learning that I have to adjust. Some of the stitch patterns are to be worked over a certain number of stitches. The challenge is that I'm not working over that number. This means that I need to adjust the pattern so it works for what I'm doing.
  Another skill I'm learning is how to improvise. I didn't realize when I started this how many stitch patterns have a right and wrong side. It means that one side looks better than the other. On a scarf, both sides need to look good. I decided the way to handle this is to knit a few inches and then reverse the pattern so that the side that used to be the wrong side is now the right side. That way the pattern shows up on both sides.
  This has been an interesting and educational experience for me. I'm really enjoying the process. It's making me think much more that I thought it would.
  Now that Scarf One is finished I am working on Scarf Two. This scarf is going to go to my daughter-in-law, Mariah. I bought the yarn for hers after I had bought the yarn for the other scarves. Her favourite colour is violet. Since Violet has so many shades and since I don't know what shade she prefers, I chose a self patterning yarn. Since the yarn has a pattern in it I'm not going to vary my stitches. The yarn itself will provide enough variety. I'm going to try to crochet a simple border on the ends of the scarf. I think it will add a nice touch. I'll let you know how it works when I've finished it.