knitting: striped scarf

I know it has been a while since I've posted anything really craft related on this blog but truth be told, I've been in quite a rut. It's also been a while since I've posted anything about the going ons within my knitting group at work. So hopefully this post will satiate both and get me back on the crafting radar.

My friend Jess is like one of the best knitters I know. And I mean, seriously, she is a really good knitter. Not only is she good at it, she actually completes projects. (I have so many WIP's -- in the knitting world that translates to "works in progress" -- it's pretty shameful.) Anyway, she brought in this scarf to our knitting group one day and I just knew the instant that I saw it that I had to make one too. I just love it when inspiration jumps at me like that.

It's a pattern that Jared Flood blogged about and she used Noro yarn like he did. I love how her stripes turned out, don't you?

I had some Manos del Uruguay yarn in my stash and of course, I need to use the yarn I have before I buy any more, so I decided to try making the scarf with it instead of buying new stuff. I tried to pair a skein of multi-colored dark blue and gold tones with a really bright turquoise skein I have, but it just looked awful. So I caved in and made a drive out to Windsor Button in downtown Boston one afternoon and found a skein in a more golden brown and orange colorway that I thought would provide enough contrast.

I started working on it while flying out to Chicago and it was the perfect project to bring along on the plane ride because it's a simple knit one, purl one rib where you do two rows in each color. The only tricky part is remembering to slip the first and last stitches purl-wise on the second row. (I still think it's odd how they will allow me take bring knitting needles -- the metal ones even!-- onto a plane and past security, yet we still can't bring water on board.)

It's my "do at work during my lunch break project", so I don't bring it home (I have the hubby's sweater to work on at home ... yes, that will take a long time) and as a result, I usually only get in about 4 rows each time I sit down to work on it. Needless to say, it's slowly coming together but I intend to give it to someone (won't say who here even though I know he doesn't read my blog) for Christmas so I have plenty of time to complete it.

The striping is very subtle and at first I was quite disappointed, but over time I have started to really like the coloring. I hope the person I am making it for likes it, which is most important, and I think the colors are masculine enough.

Stay tuned. Hopefully I can get this one complete before the summer ends!