Wool as Distance Hug Transfer

I love it when elements of planning and knitting come together in truly outstanding ways that you hoped for. The raspberry shawl I knit between here and Dublin last December was one of those; the blue and orange honey cowl I knit early pandemic another (I kept that one). And some projects work out not even just as you expected but slightly more.

This was one of those. Meet the Fall in Oak Park scarf.  

This is the Oak Park pattern (Rav link), from the designer's Mid-Century Collection. It's knit out of just over 1600 yards of Louet Gems fingering weight yarn held doubled (discontinued, yes, I'm sad too).  This was my marathon of knitting in September. This was planned and executed for a friend of mine who is an architect; and I finally managed to do a drive by delivery over the past weekend so now the surprise has been revealed! 

It's also the project that sent me through my entire stash, all possible other places extra stash and unacknowledged stash might be hiding, and back through the stash a second time when my labeling (while entirely accurate) failed me. The search for that brick red yarn was infuriating. But I found it, I restructured the pattern to work with four colors instead of five and I was off and knitting. 

This is one of those deceptive projects where the first middle panel goes quickly. You check back in with yourself after a LONG meeting and lo and behold another section has gone by and it's time for the two rows of dark brown.  

Then, of course, you're slightly hubristic. That center panel was so fast! This project will just fall off the needles without any more time committed. Only to be faced with rows that are hundreds of stitches long and seem endless. Soothing garter stitch, but endless. 

Oh and you caught the part where I mentioned I held the yarn doubled? So that meant all the ends were doubled as well. Weaving in ends was it's own separate project -- there were something like 150 of them?  No -- why would I have woven them in properly as I went like a grown adult or responsible person. I was busy knitting in Zooms, didn't you hear? 

The final scarf is long and incredibly squishy.  I didn't even end up doing all of the length it suggested as that would have put me closely into Dr. Who territory.  And I was so happy that it ended up looking like one of the many stained glass window details we see here in the Chicago area. 

It's gone to my friend now to be the hug I can't give her until we're through this pandemic; to be warm and cozy for her through these upcoming winter days as we navigate walks outside with our partners, waiting for when we can all gather again.