Staving Off Winter

Since I know all of Buffalo is dependent on my knitting to keep off the chill, I managed to finish a scarf recently. You know the drill, work on a cold weather item in the middle of a heatwave just to be prepared. Really, the weather of the world depends on knitters being decidedly out of sync with our environment. I mean, shoot, if we did things on time all hell could break loose! Well, maybe that's just if I managed to do things on time... See, my tardiness is keeping everything on kilter. That's why you get Christmas presents in July. (Ahem, not that I owe my aunt a holiday gift or anything...)

Pattern: Beaded Scarf from Elmwood Yarn Shop
Yarn: Karabella Aurora 8 color 19; 4 1/2 skeins (The top picture is probably closest to the true color, although it is maybe a bit darker... a very gorgeous shade of deep plum.)
Beads: Clear glass with color painted on the insides, from the LYS Needles: Addis 8
Date Started: Um, a long time ago... fall *cough, cough* 2003
Date Finished: June 2006... talk about the world's slowest knitter
Recipient: Me, me, me
Notes: Love, love, love the yarn. With the Addis, it was the poverbial "like knitting with buttah." Of course, I had to make the pattern a bit more fiddly by doing the lines of beads the entire length of the scarf and adding an extra skein and a half to the pattern, just to keep it challenging. Granted, this probably wasn't the smartest thing to do as those little suckers are going to be cold against my neck this winter. Yes, practicality, you are a stranger to me.

This was my first knitting with beads experience and the jury is still out. I used the technique where you string all the beads onto your yarn and then fight, push, curse, tease and growl the little suckers down the skein as you knit. Knit, knit, knit... damn, hit the beads... push, push, push... knit, knit, knit... damn, again... To place the beads, I slipped the stitch purlwise with the yarn in front, pushing the bead into the little cradle made by the slipped stitch. (For whatever value my little knitting techniques are worth...) I enjoyed doing this when on the beaded sections at each end, but it made for some slow progress in the center section. I could easily see knitting this one again, but I think the beads just on the ends and maybe a little bit of striping above the chart pattern but would be enough.

But the most important thing... finished project! Checking 'em off little by little. I think this means that the yarn diet is actually working if I'm returning to old projects. Although, I may have cast on my Trekking socks yesterday... I'm reforming, but I still like a new project now and then.

Oh, and I just passed my one-year blogiversary. I've started a post about it, but as with most things around here, just not finished on time. Like I said, reform is a very, very slow and inconsistent process.