On Friday night P.A. and I grabbed a moment to pop out for a drink at our local watering hole. We were due to attend the District Dance Championships to watch DD2 compete with her High School Hip Hop Dance Team on Saturday and then he had a 7pm flight to Copenhagen to round off the day. In amongst all that we had to pack clothes, prepare gifts for family members in the UK (his final destination), on the off chance he might see some of them and...oh, yes,.......do our taxes! In light of all this, a farewell drink on Friday seemed like a necessity.
There was just one problem. I wanted to wear my new neckwarmer and........... I hadn't quite finished it yet. There I was knitting a few rows in between loads of laundry; lipstick on, hair done and outfit ready. The only item remaining was the neckwarmer.
I'd been planning it for some time. I had one skein of red Frog Tree Merino in my stash and had picked up a skein of SWTC Calypso ribbon yarn from the bargain bucket at my LYS a few months back. The two could probably be knit up together, I thought, and vowed to experiment. The project began last week. I used US11 needles and started with a drop stitch pattern. I knitted half the yarn before I decided that the fabric it was creating was really not what I had imagined. It was turning out way too floaty and the two types of yarn were just not complimenting each other in any way at all.
I frogged and started again. I cast on 25sts and did a knit 4 rows, purl 4 rows, design. Although the resulting fabric was much denser, it still wasn't quite what I'd envisioned (this 'minds eye' business can be quite infuriating at times!)
I ripped it all out again and cast on 25sts.
In desperation I resigned myself to the embarrassment of basic garter stitch. OK, so I wasn't going to produce some fantastic arty piece with loops, twirls and endlessly complicated yarn overs. I'd just have to suck it up and face the knitting group on Thurday looking like an 8yr old, with my vibrant mauve jumbo needles and garter stitch square.
I got well through my neckwarmer at knitting that day, taking the
ergonomic tack to explain my needle size (after all I had been knitting a lot of socks recently.) My Central Park Hoodie proved a great distraction too and there was a whole lot of spinning going on, so I got back home relatively unscathed in the 'street cred' department.
I cast off the neckwarmer moments before venturing out on Friday night. As I secured it with a marcazite pin, I realised that I'd created a lushious looking warm, springy fabric with all the passion of a Chanel tweed. I felt very Jackie O as I teamed my red and black masterpiece with a black rollneck sweater, black suede jacket, black trousers and knee high boots. The electrifying red of the neckwarmer was the piece de resistance and centre piece of the outfit. It looked amazing.
I will certainly never knock garter stitch again. In fact, I'm sorely tempted by the thought of a Chanel jacket right now.
Hmmmmm, I wonder?!!
I finally finished creating the PDF for this scarf which I originally designed for my cousin's 3yr old son. They had been everywhere looking for a scarf suitable for a small boy and in the end they asked me if I could knit one for him. I spent several weeks just mulling the project over in my mind while I got on with other things. What yarn should I use? Which stitch pattern would look good? How could I make my little friend feel independent when he got himself ready to go outside?
The Mock cable stitch gives the scarf a warm cosy look and the keyhole design means that small hands can slip one end through the large hole unaided encouraging independence. It also means less bulk at the neck, enabling the child to still be able to swallow or move their head whilst wearing the scarf! 
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