Scarf With A Timeline

Last, but not least in the Christmas crafting reveal: Jamie's scarf.

Jamie is a knitter. Her projects of choice tend to utilize big needles and thick yarn. She likes her projects to be simple enough that she can talk and knit because most of the time when she knits she is doing so in the context of chatting with friends. Jamie, as is the case with most knitters, has a yarn stash that contains many beautiful yarns. Her stash also includes roving and other fiber, as she has also become smitten with spinning and dying fiber. Jamie recently became a first-time mom and is working full-time. With the increased demands on her time and energy, Jamie's stash has started to overwhelm her and become a source of insidious stress. She feels like there is so much she could make out of her stash, if only she had the time and energy to do it. This notion, coupled with her overflowing brain full of ideas, is driving her a little crazy.

When I asked her if she had any requests for things I could make her for Christmas we discussed options which resulted in her passing on some gorgeous white merino wool and silk blend yarn spun into a lofty singly ply. She bought this yarn when she came to visit me in Boston and we traveled to Rhinebeck together in 2007. Before she flew home, she started a scarf with the yarn. When she pulled the yarn out to give it to me, she had not made any progress beyond that first inch she had knit in Boston. Her request was for me to knit her something out of the yarn for her Christmas present. She wouldn't have to do the knitting, but she could still have something she can wear from the yarn she loves.

She was specifically imagining it as a wide, long scarf that could be wrapped around her neck a few times for big, fluffy warmth. After some Ravelry browsing, we decided on a pattern (Lace Ribbon Scarf) and I went to work on it.

Since she already knew what she was getting, I wanted to think of some way to make some part of it a surprise. When brainstorming ways to make it a little more special, I locked onto the concept of knitting memory. I had listened to a Cast On episode in which Brenda Dayne explored the concept of knitting memory. I had also recently seen a post on a blog (I can't remember which one) where someone had indicated the places they were when they knit parts of their project. I decided to merge these two ideas and take advantage of the linear shape of a scarf to turn one edge of the scarf into a time line. I liked the idea of Jamie being able to connect with where I was and what I was doing during the creation of her scarf.

I created the time line by attaching markers each time I stopped knitting. I kept notes along the way and numbered them according to the appropriate placement. After I blocked the scarf, I wrote up the notes and attached them at the appropriate points using a hole punch and a bit of scrap yarn. The result is the crazy edge shown in the photo above.

The funny part was that I knit this scarf during a really busy and distracted couple of weeks, so sometimes I would sit down to knit and at some point I would make a mistake, have to rip back and end up where I started. I made note of these points too so some of the markers were right next to each other!