A Project From Long Ago

When I was a young darling I took on many a project - including a fiber exchange for one of the spinning (crafting) retreats that shaped who I've become.  The fiber exchange goes a little something like this: everyone involved puts some fiber of their choosing into a bag, and everyone would get someone else, then they would make something for the person they were randomly assigned.  This made for a fun gift exchange that would take place the next year, and since people would rarely know who had received their fiber, everyone would have little clue as to what would become of their original contribution.

However, my dear younger self, distracted by the fleeting troubles and excitement of youth, ended up totally forgetting about my fiber exchange projects (yes, that’s projects with an “s”).  The one I made up for while still finding my footing in my first years of university, but the other was far from my mind up until I ventured home for my older spinning and knitting supplies. It was only when I found the bag with a name on it that all of the memories came flooding back.

I'm not one to call it quits, so here I am- making a project for someone that has been miraculously patient while I make up for the absent-mindedness of my youth.

It's always exciting to start a project from the very basic roots.  Having my spinning wheel with me has already been one of the greatest gifts- as I get to see the project from its infancy to the wonderful finish of what it becomes.  It's special being able to walk through each step of what makes something, so that it can turn out precisely how I want.

Ignoring the sneaky pink, brown, and white skein in the back - this is the fiber after It was spun and plied.  I plied the white fiber with the blue, green, orange, and white, because I felt that way the colours were far less likely to muddy and become dull and since they were so vibrant and fun as they spun up I wanted to make the most of that.

So after plying, I washed the skeins, and hung them out to dry as I went camping for the weekend.

Upon my return, I wound up the fresh, dry skeins, and began knitting the of a scarf.

In my visit home, I saw my mother knitting something quite similar to this pattern, if not exactly like it.

It's purl one, knit two, purl one, knit two, and so on throughout the first two rows, then for the third row purl all the way across, however that’s if you knit like I do, which is when the "right" side is always facing you.  

For people that do wrong side knitting, it's: purl one, knit two, purl one, knit two, and so on for row one; row two would be knit one, purl two, knit one, purl two, and so on; then for the third row, you would purl all the way across.  

Here I am doing a few of my favourite things. Photo credit to my phenomenal aerial coach.  

The scarf ended up knitting up fast, and I managed to have loads of fun all along the way in making it.

At the cast off I emailed the woman this is for - she promptly responded with all the kindness and understanding that I remember this phenomenal group of crafters having.  Soon I will be shipping this delight off to her, and moving on to the next project.

As always, I would like to thank you for being here and reading this.  You give me the gift of being able to share something I love and am passionate about with others, and bringing something lovely to the world.  So thank you again, and take care.