Diagonal Rib Infinity Scarf from Stitch(es) - Day 5

Before we begin, let's take a moment to recognize this is my 250th post.  Wow.  Who'd have thunk it??? I hope you've enjoyed the journey as much as I have!  We now return to the subject at hand:


Heading for the final curl...

I’m finally at the end of that l-o-n-g expanse of knit-5-purl-3.  The diagonal ribbing truly ads something special to the piece.  I can’t say until I’ve put it on, but I believe it will factor in how the scarf will drape around my neck.  I certainly know will feel soft and warm.  It’s been an eerily warm winter so far in Chicago...and I can’t help thinking payback is on the way.

Given my druthers, I’d suppose I’d opt to make it a bit wider.  I only received one skein of the Shibui Baby Alpaca, but it doesn’t seem to be enough to make it the full 7+ inches called for in the pattern.  I had to measure out the far end of the yarn.  I felt I needed to mark a “stopping point” to make sure I'd reserved enough yardage to do the five rows of stockinette.  I want that clever roll I need to match the beginning edge.  

It’s fine the way it is, but some part of me would prefer another three inches or so of width.  It feels like 10 inches to play with would be optimal.  It’s just a hunch--I haven’t gotten it around my neck yet.  And, let’s not forget that a wider scarf would mean three more inches of endless knit-5-purl-3 and I’m really done with that.

My original charm with this project still holds:  it’s a cute basic taken up a notch with some thoughtful pattern design.  Well worth a try--especially if the Chicago winter’s about to have its way.

Diagonal Rib Infinity Scarf from Stitch(es) - Day 4

Um...yeah...about that...

So, here’s the thing about writing a knitting blog.  It’s loads of fun, and you get access to the most delicioius cupcakes on the planet not to mention meeting great yarn folks from all over.

Then those great yarn folks give you stunning patterns.  Which you knit.  In front of lots of people--well, digitally in front of ‘cuz you’re not in my living room or anything (and aren’t you glad??).

And then there’s the bit where you mess up.  Which, in blogosphere terms, means you mess up in front of everyone.  Then you’re forced to fess up about your mess up. [cue violins]

Which explains today’s post.

You know all those pattern instructions for circular needles that say “make positively absolutely triple-dog-certain that you don’t twist the stitches when you join them together”?  Twisting the first row is like crossing the streams in Ghostbusters: the world just might fall apart if you allow it to happen.

Um...yeah...about that “no twist” imperative:  I sort of botched it.  Worse, I was three inches into the knitting before I caught on.  Halfway done--that’s downright embarrassing. So much for the myth of the observant nature of writers.  My infinity scarf is twisted.  Rats. [cue ominous music]

I spent a half-hour kicking various living room objects, cursing my inattention and the fact that I absolutely couldn’t manage ripping it out and redoing it in time to stage a cover-up.  

Then it dawned on me: Infinity scarf + twisted loop = mobius strip = mobius scarf! [cue trumpet fanfare]

I have always wondered how these mobius things worked (although now having accomplished it and read the Wikipedia entry twice, I’m still not sure I know).  The pattern has a clear front and back, so it’s not an ideal set-up, but I’m going to make the most of it. [cue earnest music]

You never know...it just might work...it may even turn out awesome! [cue 1950's announcer crooning..."until next time..."]

Diagonal Rib Infinity Scarf from Stitch(es) - Day 3

Diagon-Allie

It’s a lovely color.

It’s a lovely texture.

It’s a lot of ribbing.  A whole lot of ribbing.

I think I could purl-three-knit-five in my sleep at this point.  You can’t completely zone out on this because failing to line up those diagonal ribs would mess the whole thing up.  Being even one stitch off would throw the whole pattern off.  This makes our project a bit of an dilemma--too boring to entertain, too complicated to ignore.  

Remember that first episode where I said what a good balance that was?  That’s the thing about balance--it unbalances.  An inch ago, I loved it.  Today, well, let’s just say the honeymoon is over.  Sure, I’ll press on because the color really is stunning and it’s going to be a great piece once it’s finished.  And you know what they say:  nothing worthwhile is easy.

The knitting has left me, however, with a good deal of time to ponder while I purl.  I have come to an unsettling conclusion about myself during this project.  An unrelated realization, if you will--something that has little to do with knitting.  Or more precisely, perhaps it is exactly this truth from which knitting saves me.  Confused yet?

Here it is:  I am a nerd.

An artistic nerd, perhaps, but by every shade of the definition I used in college, I am a nerd.  Last weekend I held a fluent and extensive conversation with a “socially challenged” man in a comic book store.  About Doctor Who and Star Trek.  I debated the merits of River Song’s sonic screwdrivers vs. The Doctor’s (10 and 11, mind you!).  I took a ridiculous amount of delight in being part of the Doctor Who blog hop earlier this month.  

My favorite Christmas gift?  A wind-up Tardis.  Favorite gift given?  An Enterprise pizza cutter for my husband (hey, at least I married right).  I own multiple translations of Beowulf.  Harry Potter? Read 'em all...in hardcover.  We go to the Renaissance Festival every summer.  I watch Big Bang Theory and a frightening amount of BBC television.  I’m never four feet from my Blackberry and I hyperventilate if removed from my laptop for too long.  When not in my blessed contacts, my glasses are thick enough to qualify for Coke bottle bottoms. I haven't picked up a copy of People Magazine or Vogue in six months if not more.

Face it:  I’ve just described a nerd.  I’ve just described me.

And yet, I knit.  And somehow, in some twisted corner of my artistic brain, that makes it all okay.

Thank God.

Diagonal Rib Infinity Scarf from Stitch(es) - Day 1

Infinitely refreshing!

After all that chart-peering lace, a nice gentle pattern like this one from Stitch(es) in Winnetka is a refreshing change.  Sure it takes a bit of concentration--and a chunk of time--to cast on 296 stitches, but that doesn’t sap the brain cells the way a lace chart can.

My favorite trick for casting on a whopping load of stitches like this is to place a marker every twenty-five stitches (they've been removed in this photo, sorry).  That way, after nine markers, I know I’ve only got 21 more to go.  Much less stressful than counting (and recounting and recounting if I know me) to nearly three hundred.

I’m especially fond of patterns that make good use of yarn’s natural properties.  Remember the pooling colors of our tie-die neck warmer?  The one that came with the side order of amnesia?  

It’s especially pleasing when patterns capitalize on things that normally bug me, like the curling nature of stockinette stitch.  The first five rows of this infinity scarf--or cowl, as I often call it--are just that stitch.  Placed where it is, I think the curl of those first five stockinette rows will add a nifty design element rather than an annoying tendency. 

I admit, however, that it’s a bit early to tell.  As such, it’s win-win:  if it curls, that’ll be a neat edge.  If it doesn’t, even better.  Well done, designer Sue Peterson!