I don't know if you've been monitoring the weather in Europe, but it has been bitterly freezing cold. My sister-in-law in Germany who rarely asks for anything has asked me to knit her a new scarf. I am happy she asked and was excited to get started...until the temperature here spiked to a humid 40 degrees Celsius on Christmas Day, only a couple of days after her request. Yarn clinging to my fingers in such hot, sticky weather did not inspire, and knitting was put aside for days. Feeling guilty for poking along at such a rare request, I resumed knitting. Slowly, the scarf grew to about 18 inches long, and I lost inspiration again. As much as I love the warmth and love of a hand-knitted scarf, I do get rather bored knitting one. Humph. There it sat, taunting me, until the weather suddenly cooled down to a very civilized 26 degrees with breeze and my knitting mojo returned. Now, the scarf is growing steadily (I'm a relatively slow knitter), and I hope to have it in the mail soon!
My sister-in-law's winter coat is navy and dark grey, so I think the colors in this yarn will be perfect. The feel of it...YUM. Malabrigo worsted is so buttery soft! Even my wool-hating husband had to admit it feels pretty darn nice. I'm knitting it up into the Scrunchable Scarf found on Ravelry (my notes here). I am really enjoying it now, and it has actually revved me out of my "I hate knitting scarves" attitude and into daydreaming about a new scarf for me! At the rate I go, my own scarf might be ready by the time it gets cold here (six months or so from now). It's Jared Flood's Noro Striped Scarf, and I have two colorways of Silk Garden that I am very excited about knitting!
I know you are questioning my commitment. I would be too if I were you. I am not a scarf knitter. I am a garment knitter by preference. But I am such a slow knitter for what I'd like to achieve that my list of projects grows much faster than my list of accomplishments.
This past week, Amanda of SouleMama posted about her 14 (maybe more!) sweaters she knit last year, and I was truly inspired. She has four kids with another on the way, homeschools, recently bought a farm and is learning that life, has published two books and completed a third this past year AND did all that knitting in addition to various other crafting adventures. While I wonder how much she sleeps, I cannot help being terribly impressed. Since she is neither super-human nor well-staffed, I have to assume that she is enabled by serious dedication and a profound sense of purpose. I am inspired by her achievements, and it's given me that little push I needed to get back my knitting mojo.
Well done you! You are well on the way to 14 knitting projects for the year. I'm still shying away from knitting - although learning to knit is on my list for the year. I have been tackling a few little sewing projects instead.
Posted by: Aussie Mum | 01/17/2011 at 04:10 AM