Fait accompli!

The Mom Scarf

Finally! I've completed the million-stitch Mom Scarf. It's not that I haven't enjoyed the process, but a) the pattern repeat was only four rows long, b) the pattern repeat was...basic beyond all rational belief and c) the yarn was so incredibly fiddly and pain in the left butt cheek to deal with, I'm glad to see the cast off on it.

Here's a close-up of the pattern:

It's a variation of the fan/feather pattern (see back a few entries for the pattern source, if interested.) Looks a bit like a three-legged cat track. A three-legged cat missing a toe on the back paws. Heh. The cloth is lofty and warm, soft as a baby's bottom, and has a nice drape to it. I really like it, now that it's done. Interestingly enough, Sunday is Mom's birthday, so I got the scarf done in time to do duty as a gift.

Now, don't get me wrong: I enjoyed working on a lace pattern, I really did. It's just, after a few dozen repeats (there's something like over 100 on the entire scarf) it got damnedly dull. I was dialing it in on the last fifteen inches, and it's saying something that even while dialing it in, I only had to frog back twice (again, knitting and liquor do. Not. Mix. EVAR. Not unless you like going to the frog pond.) I have a bad feeling that this particular lace pattern is now a strong muscle memory, which does not bode well for my next lace project (at this point, still TBD. I might do my autumn themed scarf/shawl in the Kidsilk Crack, or I might do the shawl/stole in my pretty green merino, or something entirely different in the red laceweight I've got stashed up. Any way I go, it's all too exciting!)

I wrapped it back in the ball band before putting it in the gift bag--primarily as the ball band has the washing instructions on it. It's so cute in the band! It even stands up on its own!

Despite the "One Skein" origins of the pattern, I actually used something more like one and a half, and it's still not 60 inches as the pattern indicates it should be. It's close enough (about 54-56) that no one's crying, especially me. The worst part is I've still got one more entire skein of this stuff! I will have to tuck it up in my acrylics yarntainer (in a baggie; it has got wool in it) until I forget what a pain it was to knit with. Maybe I'll use it for something that's just....knitted back and forth, or something. Or drop stitch something in stead of lace. Frogging back on this stuff....gah. I'm going to have flashbacks or PTSD or something from it.

Oh, well. I'm resting up from the experience tonight and going back to my Who scarf (up to about ten inches so far! Yay!) tomorrow or Saturday (we're celebrating Mom and my adopted sister's birthdays tomorrow night.) Whenever I get to it. Next week, I'm changing my work schedule to 8-5, mostly to take Dog for morning constitutionals, but also to give me more time to sleep in the mornings. Maybe getting to work after it's light will help me cope. I just have to not use it as an excuse to stay up later at night, as I do most of my True Living outside my 40 hours of financial penance a week. Sleeping more=less time to have fun and enjoy my life, which sucks. But maybe sleeping more=having more energy to enjoy the time outside work. Eh. It's a trade off.