2100 Miles or A Tale of Two Scarves

I was a college kid at the University of Wisconsin when I visited my first yarn shop (Coyote Yarns in Madison). I walked out with my first pair of bamboo needles, a couple of balls of Plymouth Baby Alpaca, a simple pattern for a mistake rib scarf and a healthy amount of shock at the prices. The intent was to knit a scarf for my then-boyfriend. It took over a year of off and on knitting, but I eventually finished. Since I married that boyfriend, both he and the scarf are still around:

Five feet of nuzzly baby alpaca goodness.

My second trip to the yarn store toward the end of my stay in Madison, yielded supplies for a scarf for myself. I asked for something to make a chunky scarf. They pointed me toward some Cleckheaton Gusto 10. Chunky it is. I started the scarf. Then I ripped it out. And started it again. And ripped it again. Then Mr. Beagle and I moved from Madison to the Bay Area. The yarn came too.

Once in California, I began knitting in earnest. Every so often I’d pull out the Gusto and knit it for a bit, only to rip it out. Once I even finished a scarf with it, but decided I didn’t like it and, it got frogged. I really thought that Allison’s herringbone scarf pattern was going to do it for me and the Gusto:

But messy edges and frustration with the US 35 needles led to another couple of rounds of ripping. In any case, I now live in Northern California where it doesn’t get really cold, anyhow. Why can’t the Gusto just live indefinitely in my stash?

Well, my life is taking a turn for the different, and I decided that it’s time to finish the scarf. In December, Mr. Beagle will become Prof. Beagle and we’ll return to Madison. The Gusto will come too. As a scarf, at last.

Pattern: None

Begun: 2001?
Finished: 10/10/07
Size: ~6'
Yarn: Cleckheaton Gusto 10, 3 balls
Needles: US17



Straight up seed stitch. The first stitch of each row was slipped either knitwise or purlwise for neat edges. I put a "button hole" in the center since I was afraid it was going to be too short to wrap. It's not to short, but it's nice to have options:



Pros: Love me some chunky seed stitch. Gonna be warm. Moving where we can afford to buy a house.
Cons: The mohair in the Gusto sheds like a mofo. Winter. Humidity.