RIP UFO

It was the first thing I ever knitted. The scarf that we made in class. Truth be told, it's some beautiful yarn -- a Manos del Uruguay in the 114 Maroon colorway mixed with two shades of Rowan Kidsilk Haze.

It was good practice, but frustrating. The teacher taught us the single cast on and told us to practice throughout the week with the handout she gave us. Unfortunately, when I ripped out to try to practice, the cast on method on the handout was totally different (long tail cast on). I almost tore my hair out.

I knit it tight and small. At only 3-1/2 inches wide, it was going to be incredibly small for a scarf. And only after my fourth scarf did I realize that I was twisting all my stitches. Yech.

Maybe I associated all the typical beginner frustrations with this scarf. It sat all by its lonesome tucked away while I speed knitted the four scarves I made for Christmas presents. Instead of becoming Mom's present -- a mom always rates the first try -- it languished while I finished the Noro scarf, started a baby blanket and planned my first sweater.

So today, after finding out my knitting class was postponed for a week (boohoohoo), I decided to rip it, rip it good.

May I insert a note here to say that ripping out mohair is a gigantic pain in the ass?

Now I'm a few repeats into Jo Sharp's Misty Garden pattern in Scarf Style. I'm not sure yet if it's working out. Since the Manos is a lot thicker than the mohair that the pattern calls for, the scarf is coming out about 10in wide. And I'm not sure if the Feather and Fan pattern is really showing up. But we'll keep at it for a while and see how it goes.

(Love speaking in the royal "we," don't we?)