Red Scarf in Progress

Red Scarf in Progress

I'm almost a little embarrassed to be posting this picture. After all, you would have thought that if anyone would have been done with their Red Scarf for the Orphan Foundation of America, it should have been me. In this case, I am a victim of my desire to create something "truly special". This desire gets me in trouble with my knitting all the time. It is why my sister-in-law still doesn't have a felted handbag after a Christmas promise 3 years ago. It is why my aunt is still waiting for a scarf, even though I have the most delicious baby alpaca yarn all ready to go. Believe it or not, this scarf is the 4th iteration after several unsuccessful starts from Knitting in Nature and some ideas that didn't quite work out from a couple of interesting pattern stitches from Barbara Walkers treasure troves.

After the third failure, I realized that I was probably trying to make this too difficult. In my attempt to create something "truly special" I was going to end up getting blocked and not creating anything at all. I also stepped back from it from a bit and had the realization that the "truly special" part of this scarf did not have to be some artistic design. The truly special part was going to be the fact that I invested the time to make something warm for someone who is working hard to make their way in the world with not a lot of support. Amazing that that realization took so long, but sometimes my brain doesn't work in the way that you might expect it to.

After that, I turned back to Barbara Walker in search of something simple, unisex and something that a college student might not mind wearing. I'd never knit anything using a traditional basketweave stitch before, and that seemed to fit all the criteria I had in mind. So I cast on and after watching 6" or so come together rather smoothly, I decided that this was the right pattern for the job. Simple, do-able, but still an interesting texture.

This picture was taken about a week ago. Since then I've gotten through my second skein of Lamb's Pride worsted and I'm about to start on my third (it's only 52" or so long and I think if it were going to be a scarf for me, I'd want it to be at least 60"). It's home stretch time -- I know I'll have time to finish it and get it to where it is supposed to go.

In case you didn't read it on Norma's Red Scarf 2007 project blog here's a reminder that the Orphan Foundation is ready to accept Red Scarves -- you can send them in any time between now an the end of January.

Here's the address:

c/o Care Package
Orphan Foundation of America
21351 Gentry Drive, Suite 130
Sterling, Virginia 20166

As a reminder, the organizers are encouraging everyone to attach a note of encouragement (and care instruction) to the scarves and they would really love it if scarf knitters or other project supporters would consider including some other little gift such as stamps, a gift card, candy, etc. This request made me think back to college -- I always appreciated those little extras from my mom and other family members who remembered me.

If you haven't started yet... there is still time. Get some red yarn, find a simple stitch, and knit like the wind. Remember, what's truly special is that someone took the time to make something for someone else who might need a little boost. There's really nothing in life more truly special than the gift of time.