Late Christmas Post

I can't believe I forgot to post the drama around my boyfriend's scarf. At the October meeting of the River Cities Fiber Guild, one of the guild members, Beth, brought in some remnants of yarn she had sitting around. I liked a skein and ball of a blue/purple/pink variegated yarn and a plain light blue yarn. I had already decided to make a scarf for my boyfriend, Jon, and this yarn was perfect. I am a very lucky knitter, in that Jon loves vibrant colors, mostly in blue and purple.

The only problem was, I didn't know how much of the yarn I had. Of the variegated, there was a good-sized yarn cake and a small hand wound ball. I cast on 28 stitches in garter stitch. I thought at first to use 2x2 rib, but had just finished a 2x2 rib for my aunt, and was about sick of it.

I worked diligently on the scarf, around other projects until December 23. The days preceding this had been unusually warm and rainy, but that night the temperature dropped drastically and the although the rain had stopped, the roads were icy. I was on I-64, having just left my grandmother's, when I became stuck in a massive traffic jam.

It turned out that a cherry-picker truck had overturned on a bridge and was blocking all 4 lanes. I didn't know that then, but after sitting for about 20 minutes, I fished Jon's scarf out of my knitting bag. I figured it would be best because the other projects I was working on all required counting and it was to dark to see well. So, this is what I did:

I ended up stuck in that traffic jam for two hours! Still, I got a lot done. After I finally got home I stretched out the scarf to measure it. I had only about 2 yards of the variegated yarn left and only 40 inches. After an initial bit of panicking and use of language unbecoming a knitter, I figured out what to do. I took the blue yarn I received from Beth and continued on the cast off end for 5 inches. I then undid the cast on edge and added the blue yarn for an additional five inches. I didn't have much time to add the extra inches. I was due to meet Jon and go to my parents for Christmas morning at 9:00. I ended up finishing at 6:30.

I could not believe how good it looked! It looked like I had actually planned that from the beginning. I told Jon about it and he didn't believe it either.