Resourceful Knitting

Boy I had a time making this little brown scarf. I was just coming off of my first knitting project which was a big success...I whipped up a gorgeous multi-colored long narrow scarf with fringe using only the knitting stitch, and I was feeling rather adventurous. I can do more than just this knitting stitch, I told myself. So, I found instructions online for a "sampler scarf" which uses lots of variations of the knit and purl stitch to create patterns like basket weave, ribbing, etc. This was a coming of age project for me. I learned a lot about keeping track of where I am, how to take rows out after messing up and, more importantly, get them threaded back onto the needle. I even learned how to keep going and make changes when things go awry. For example, the original pattern calls for a long section of vertical ribbing in the center of the scarf, and my vertical ribbing was not going well. It was all puckered up and pulling the edges of the scarf toward the center. It would not lay flat and looked terrible. So I ended up taking that out and changing the pattern to make a horizontal ribbing instead. Yes, I did just change the pattern on my second ever knitting project. Yes, that does deserve a round of applause and a glass of wine. Then, just when I was feeling all smug, I came to the end of my project and realized two very important things: my scarf was too short and it had a small hole in it. Now that would be enough to make most beginners cry or at least swear off ever knitting again, but I was determined to wear this thing I just spent 15 hours making, so I cranked up the creative juices and found one solution for both problems!

And that solution is called "a button." I went through my big bag of lovely vintage buttons and pulled out a gorgeous metal scroll work button. I placed it where it would fit through the small hole that isn't supposed to be there, and voila! I made my scarf into a neck wrap of sorts.

It isn't what I thought it would be when I started the project, but I am happy with it and I learned so much.