Sinful Ribbed Scarf: The Story of a Young Woman

 Back in 2009, a young woman chose to teach herself to knit.  She picked out a few books at the store and brought them home.  She quickly discovered her new love would take her many places.  And once her world was opened up to Raverly…well, down the rabbit hole as they say.

After a fun and surprising Christmas, with handknit gifts for the whole family, this woman decided she needed to make something for herself.  She started a scarf… (anyone know where this story is going?) 

And although the yarn was pretty and squooshy and soft, the pattern easy to follow and memorize, and even with a brand-new love for the art of knitting, she just could not finish this scarf. 

Eventually, the project shifted to the bottom of the pile, forgotten and neglected, with only the occasional glimpse of sunlight and soothing but sporadic click of the  needles…

The scarf grew.  It grew and it grew and it grew.  And then one day…it was finished.  Three soft, snuggly skeins later and the scarf was complete.  The young woman, so excited,  threw that scarf around her neck, forgetting yarn tails and all, and proudly pranced around the house. 

The young woman knew that part of her exultation was not that the scarf was so very intricate and impressive, but instead because she stuck with it and made it to the end.  Persistence and patience can sometimes pay off.

I started this project a looooooong time ago.  Cast on the last day in January, 2010, I was so very excited to be making something for myself.  I enjoyed gifting my new found talent, but wanted something just for me.  Almost two years later, I bound off that edge…January 23, 2012, I believe. 

For such a simple scarf, it really should have been finished a long while ago.

But I take immense pleasure in the unique ribbing the stitch pattern highlights.  Perhaps it’s similar to the mistake stitch ribbing? I like to fold it up like an accordion and let it gradually relax again.

Made from Knit Picks Comfy Worsted in the colorway Marlin, Sinful Ribbed Scarf was my go-to project when I really had no idea what to knit next.  It wasn’t until the Shawl KAL (knit-a-long) was happening with the Itty Bitties that I really felt the need to get this off the needles. 

The original pattern calls for a bulky weight yarn…but when I first started knitting, I didn’t really understand what that meant.  So I just picked a yarn out I thought looked pretty, and got 4 skeins.  Two for a scarf, two for a hat.  As I started to learn more about this craft, I realized I’d need more than the 2 skeins, and so added the third.  It’s a lengthy scarf, which I love.  I’ve never completed a hat to match, although I am working on a pattern at the moment.  I’ve had a set-back or two, but I’ll get there eventually. 

I don’t know when I’ll actually knit another scarf again.  They are time consuming and monotonous.  Even lacework if not varied enough will lose my interest.  It’s a bit silly that something to so simple took so long. 

I’m glad to see it done, I love to wear it (it’s so very cozy and warm!), but man was it a labor of love!

(I also want to give a shout-out to Mom for modeling the scarf for me.  I made her stand in the cold, tying and re-tying that silly thing!  Thanks, Mom!)