Scarf Fever

This was absolutely sad...I saw a scarf at work yesterday that was almost adorable.  It was blocks of garter stitch in different yarns, mostly novelty stuff but not entirely--a mix of tasteful eyelashes, some chenille, a little bit of sparkle, and so on.  The colors seemed wholly random from block to block, but the overall affect was pleasing, at least to me.  It looked like some enterprising knitter cleaned out her odd bits of stash into one hell of a funky fresh scarf.

Then I saw the "fringe".  Not fringe on the ends, oh no--just that the yarn ends at each color change were knotted together and not woven in.  Hmmm.  A beginning knitter, perhaps?

The owner of the scarf not in sight--it was on a coat hook--I quickly investigated.

There was a brand label on it!

Someone paid money for it!  "Yes, I'd like an unhemmed skirt, please.  And a shirt missing three of its buttons.  Oh, and do you have any sweaters that will unravel if I look at them funny? That would be great."  (Though, in fairness to my coworker whose scarf I later discovered this is, I don't think she knits, so she might have no understanding of how poorly it's made.  Also, it could have been a gift, in which case she's not the one squirming on my hook after all.)

I'm considering my options for recreating, updating, and outdoing that scarf.  Because, honestly, before I noticed its shoddy construction, it really was cute.  And I'm feeling very scarfy this winter.

On that note...time for my official Finished Object post for my purple cabled goodies!

Pattern:  Gwynedd (winter '08 Knitty)
Yarn:  Elann Peruvian Baby Cashmere, color 1575 - Mulled Grape
Yardage: ??
Needles: #5
Final measurements: 8" W x 53" L

Notes:  Used the yarn doubled, and since I knit this sporadically over the course of a year, I didn't keep count of how many balls it ended up using--I know how much of the yarn I bought years ago, but some of it is still tied up in the one-and-a-half sleeves from the sweater it was originally supposed to be, and that was so long ago I have no idea how much those sleeves took!  Also, because I am a woman on the short side of average, I called a halt to the scarf a few inches early.

Would I knit this pattern again?:  Yes, but not any time soon, and certainly not with a doubled yarn...that made passing stitches for the cables a total pain.  Though after this rather intense cabled adventure, I'll never need a cable needle again!

And the hat!

Pattern:  Knotty but Nice Hat (winter '09 Knitty)
Yarn:  Elann Peruvian Baby Cashmere, color 1575 - Mulled Grape
Yardage: ~ 450
Needles: #5
Final measurements: head-sized!

Notes: Again, doubled yarn.  I knit this in less than 24 hours, starting the evening after the issue went live--we were leaving for our early Christmas a few days later and I wanted a hat to go with Gwynedd.

Would I knit this pattern again?: Absolutely.  The pattern was very clear from start to finish, easy to follow and pretty darn quick to knit considering the intricate cabling.  Though after bruising my poor fingers on Gwynedd's constant reversible cabling, this did seem relatively tame.