The Librarian Kate

Four scarves and a baby blanket.  It is not a lot but I only have about 8 – 9 weeks to do it.  And we’re already underway with the Pride of the Pinstripes Scarf, adapted from Lion Brand’s Harry Potter Wizard Scarf.  I am using Lion Brand Vanna’s Choice in New York Yankees colors (navy blue and white) that I just happened to have in my stash for another intended project.

Earlier this week, I also finished the ribbed scarf I had been working on in the Red Heart Bay Print for my boyfriend.  Since the yarn kept tangling, thereby cementing my desire to never buy Red Heart again unless requested by someone, I ended up making the scarf about six inches shorter than the desired length in the pattern.  The colorway still showed the ribbing very well and I know Jeff (that’s the boyfriend) will like the color. The experience has killed my desire to work with Red Heart again.  I’ll use what i have in stash and that will end my business with them.

One of my newest hobbies is knitting.  I took up the fiber arts this summer out of a desire to learn something new and make good use of my three months of downtime from graduate school. (Of course, then I had to go and spoil it all by getting an assistantship, but one does not turn down the professional opportunities, networking and such, a desire to make a deeper mark in librarianship, when they are offered.  And a $1500 paycheck.)

Some of my favorite projects of late:

This ribbed scarf pattern comes from the website of the Lion Brand Yarn Company. It’s a basic knit 4 purl 4 ribbing. The pattern knits up quick and looks lovely in variegated yarns – the top being Lion Brand Vanna’s Choice Purple Print, the bottom being a Red Heart Super Saver Bay Print.  (Many knitters shudder when they hear the words “Red Heart.” for it is the cheapest of cheap yarn.  The sizing makes it stiff to work with, but it’s not so bad.  I am learning to appreciate and love finer yarns that are not acrylic.  Lion Brand is becoming my favorite acrylic yarn – inexpensive, very soft, and very good quality.)

This is Kris Percival’s Broken Rib Scarf, which you can find in the “book” Knitting to Go; 25 Chic and Easy Patterns. (Click on the link and you’ll see why I placed the word book in quotation marks.) The pattern is a broken 2×2 rib – five rows of knit 2 purl two ribbing, then the next five rows of purl 2 knit 2 ribbing.  Fun to do but hard to see and appreciate the pattern with a variegated yarn. (I’m using another Red Heart Super Saver pattern, Earth and Sky, that I received as a birthday gift from my mom.  The scarf is for her.)  I will use this pattern again, but I am going to work with Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride in the Chianti colorway.