Mossy Dreams of Squares and Bobbles

A week or so ago, I made an offer -- $75 for three of my books + a handmade scarf.  I wasn't sure anything would take me up on it, but someone actually did.  Cool!  J commissioned a gift for his wife, A.  We discussed options and settled on something a) warm, b) mossy green, and c) contemporary in style.  I delightedly picked up some luxurious Misti chunky baby alpaca in a wonderful chartreuse green (little yellow highlights, but also glints of blue), and I was off.  Or so I thought.

It was a delight working with such soft yarn, and I got pretty far along on this scarf when I realized that twenty-five stitches across (the same as I'd used in my previous scarf) was just too wide in a chunky yarn.  It a) didn't look good, and b) would use up a lot more yarn than was necessary.  But mostly, it didn't look good; the proportions were all off.  And I wanted this scarf to be nice and long, so the owner could wrap it round her neck a time or two if she wanted.  I didn't have the heart to rip it out myself; I asked Kevin to do it while I was sleeping.  I came down in the morning to a pile of not-too-tangled yarn, took a deep breath, and set out again with nineteen stitches across.  Much better.

I didn't try for anything complex or crazy; I wanted to finish this in good time to send off for a holiday gift, not get tangled in something difficult I didn't know how to do.  But I did want to add at least one new element, just to keep myself interested.  I kept the squares from my last scarf, but instead of seashells, tried little clusters instead.  Not all the way through; just a few near the ends.  Easy and fun, and I think they soften the effect of all those squares.  



I'm happy with the finished result -- happy enough that I would have been okay with keeping it and wearing it myself. :-)  But it's off to J's A on Friday, as soon as I make her a little care tag.  It's a little weird sending one of my creations out into the world, with no idea how it'll be received.  I suppose it's not so different from publishing stories in that way.  Hopefully she'll like it!