Knitpicks Victorian Lace Scarf

So I'll start this post off with a story of being in the right place at the right time. The moral of which is that accidental felting isn't always as disastrous as it may initially seem.

I found a pattern for a belted cardigan/jacket that I really loved. I perused my yarn store all afternoon looking for the perfect yarn for it (but, which wouldn't break the bank, with my 10-skein requirement). I started the sweater in November and just finished it about a week ago. I had a solid three months of on and off work into it. When it finished it was just *this much* too big, so I thought I'd casually just throw it in the washing maching and felt it down a little. Well, after the 5 minute check, some hollering and cursing ensued as I realized that my huge investment in yarn and time had just been felted out of my size range. (There's a lesson for you). I was so disappointed, but stubbornly determined to make the best of it. Who doesn't love a too-small sweater, anyway? It was hanging on the back of a chair when a friend of a neighbor stopped by. She was drawn to the sweater, fascinated that I had made it myself, and sufficiently sympathetic to my glum report of its shrinkage. She asked to try it on, and loved it. It fit her like it had been tailored just for her, and she was completely enamored. She offered to buy it, and when I doubtfully told her how much I'd spent on the yarn (it is NOT a cheap endeavor to make your own clothes), she promptly offered me double my cost. Well, turns out my mistake with one sweater provides me enough yarn for two sweaters. How lucky was that?

I've always made really warm, cozy scarves, and they're great from November to January. But now it's February and the days are getting warmer. (Seriously!) I've been wanting to make an autumn/spring scarf for a while--something not to stiflingly hot on less than frozen days. And of course, you now know that I have a thing for infinity scarves.

I'm still going through this lovely home-spun wool that my friend gave me and I've been saving this one ball for a special project. It's super soft and I love the color (nearly everything I own is blue) and the gentle variation. I found this Victorian Lace Pattern on Knitpicks.com and fell in love, deciding to just join the ends with a three-needle cast-off, leaving me with not a traditional scarf, but more like a cowl (it goes around my neck just once).

If you look closely at the middle photo, you can see where I knit one row out of order...! Normally I'd have torn that row out and fix it, but I didn't happen to notice it until I saw the photos on the computer. Well, who can blame me? I was watching Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows while I was knitting this up and was understandably distracted.

I love how this turned out, feminine and delicate, and perfect for that in-between warm/cold weather.

And now my knitting fund is replenished, so I better head downtown and buy some more yarn.