Knitting in Fits and Starts

I’d planned to spend most of the Memorial Day Weekend Knitting and relaxing. For the most part, I did just that, but it was not always the success it could have been.

On Friday, I started looking through old knitting magazines, and checking on Ravelry to see which projects were popular or how they were interpreted by other knitters. I found a simple scarf pattern that I realized would make a nice Christmas gift. I perused the stash, and decided to use up some more of the Unger Shades yarn. I cast on and knit away, the scarf growing almost 8 inches the first evening.

On Saturday, I was invited to my sister’s house for a cookout. I packed my little knitting bag with two small projects – a pair of baby booties not yet started, and yarn and needles to make more washcloths. I really wanted to work on the booties, so I found a comfy lawn chair in the shade (it was almost 90!) and cast on. I’d finished the base of the first bootie and picked up stitches for the sides, when I realized that I’d brought a set of needles that were a size too small. If I kept going, I’d end up with a cast iron boot, stiff and inflexible, and not very appealing.

So I put that project aside, and picked up the washcloth cotton. No problems there, and after eating and cleaning up, I finished the cloth and headed for home.

Back to the scarf. I worked a few more rows on Sunday, and by Monday it was over a foot long. However, although I loved the subtle color changes, the look of the yarn itself was not good. There were a few places where either a thick spot or thin spot in the yarn stood out, looking very “beginner knitter”. And the fuzziness of the yarn had a matte look to it, instead of a shimmer. But the worst thing was that the fuzzy yarn seemed to be a magnet for lint, cat hair, perhaps even dust. It looked as if I had used the scarf as a duster before I even finished it! Not the best look for a potential gift.

On Monday, I found the appropriate size needles and got the baby booties moving again. Then I ripped out the scarf, and pondered. I was trying to clean up the living room of knitting debris, and I came across the leftover blue wool from my cardigan project. I decided that these two yarns together would make a great KittyPi. I found pattern and needles and set to work. By the end of the day I had worked to the last increase round, and it was finally looking like a good use for the Unger Shades. After all, if the yarn attracts cat hair, why not use it for a cat project?

I still would like to make the ribbed scarf, and I’m sure if I mull it over for a while, the right yarn will present itself. It usually does!