Unraveled

If you didn't know, i love to knit. my friend calls it her grandmother-like-side. Call it what you will, but i had a big day. For you knitter friends, you'll be impressed. for me, well, i feel like a new person. I knit for entertainment. It helps me justify indulging my other addictions and obsessions. I rarely keep my stuff, which i will talk about later...
First, the announcement.
I. finished. TWO (you read that right) projects. within 12 hours of the other.
Yes, i finished two projects!!!
First, we have my mom's scarf.


I decided a few days before Christmas (what was I thinking???) that I would make her a scarf with a snowflake pattern. Since she was getting a black coat for christmas from my dad , I started away on the black side...



I trucked along for quite a while and then I realized that I was running out of black yarn! horrors! So, I did what I always do when faced with a change of plan... I made something up! The yarn that I used (paintbox) is this lovely multicolored long varigated yarn and it simply presented the most lovely solution... so, after asking my mom how long she wanted the scarf to be, (It was after Christmas and she didn't know what to do with 1 knitting needle :)), I suggested an alternative... knit the other half with this pretty yarn and a black snowflake. I must say, for not having a plan, I'm pretty pleased. The thing i am most excited about is this:

I know it looks like 2 pieces of yarn that need to be woven in, but... in truth, that is where the 2 balls of yarn met. I'm proud of this because who could predict that that yarn spot would be equidistant between pinks. And I got it on the first try. Look at the completed project again. Isn't that just so cool? Especially since I didn't have a plan. If you're not a knitter, trust me on this-- this is something to get excited about. This is a once in a lifetime, super amazing, serindipitous moment. It happened because I knew I needed more yarn as my scarf wouldn't be long enough. (yet another moment of lack of planning...)
The two moments that frustrated the living daylights out of me were:

when my yarn litterally broke! So frustrating. So * not *ok. But I just kept on knitting.

Mom and I went to the fabric store tonight and scored some black suede-ish material for the back. When she has time, she's going to show me how to attach it to the itchy parts. In the meantime, she's going to wear the scarf. (That makes me laugh)

Special thanks to my friend Julie who sent me her snowflake pattern she used on her really cool red and white hat (that i am putting on my to do list).

Well, I promised 2 FOs. (that's Finished Objects... as opposed to UFO's, seriously.) This has been a WIP for a LONG time. Like, late summer? I've been contemplating it since I drooled on the pattern from Cables Untangled by Melissa Lapman ... So, it's the His/hers Reversible Cable Scarf... in Cascade 220, some version of pink. I can't think of the name of it at the moment. It is completely reversible! 4 sets of cables on one side, four sets on the other. I can't wait to find another pattern that i can do this with. Today was the perfect day to finish this scarf. Check it out!! it matches my sweater! This is the first thing that I've knitted for myself. I almost knit a blue/purple scarf for myself, but ended up giving it to my friend Nichole. I almost gave this away. I still might, if you really like it. And promise to wear it. Everywhere. That includes to bed. Everything else I've made has started out as a gift.

Some knitters have lots of UFO's. I am usually very good about finishing a project before starting another, sometimes i have two UFOs in process. Usually, it's becuase one is mindless, simple, like the no-pattern parts of mom's scarf. Or sometimes, it's because I started something and another something (usually a friend's baby) came up. I haven't casted on for my next major project, yet... but i've got some things to think about while I hurry up and get a baby hat done (i'm excited to get this one in the mail!, i promise pictures :))

So, be happy for me today. I knew i was close to finishing, but ... yay. 2 projects in one day. I doubt very seriously that this will happen again for a while.