Father's Day Scarf for DH

Recipient: DH
Designer: Um...me, I guess
Pattern: It's a scarf in garter stitch
Source: My brain
Completed: June 17, 2006
Colours: Dun brown/grey - "Lt Grey 29"
Yarn: Belle Vallée Wools 3ply Softspun, 100% Canadian wool, chunky weight
Completed status: Given for Father's Day
Notes: DD knitted it with me
Pictures:

(the scarf itself is so visually dull that I felt it needed some added 'country style' interest, hence the rocking chair)

2006-Jul-18

At last, a picture.

2006-Jun-22

On Saturday, DH headed off to an SCA event by himself. (DD never naps at these things and was still getting over a cold, and the temperature that day was supposed to go up to about 35, so we felt it best if we didn't take her, which meant DH going solo.) This gave me the time I need to finish the scarf. Saturday night I wrapped it up, and the next morning I gave it to DD as DH was starting to get up. She padded over to his side of the bed and handed it off with sweetly-lisped good wishes for Father's Day.

It was a success. :) DH put it on right away. He did remark later that it would be a while before he could really get any use out of it, but I think he liked it, and I think he especially liked that DD had helped to make it.

A photo will be forthcoming.

2006-Jun-15

Monday night after blogging I ended up having some time to work on this, and it grew to be about a foot long. However, since then it hasn't been touch and I might be screwed for getting it done by Sunday.

2006-Jun-12

I was hit with the realisation that Father's Day is this freakin' Sunday!!! So I tried to haul a bit of ass on the project this weekend. Didn't do too badly - the thing grew by probably about 10cm in the half-hour or so that I snuck away and worked on it. But I am going to have to work on it every evening between now and the weekend to have a hope in hell of having something long enough to be called a scarf.

DD also got into the action at one point. DH was downstairs, so I showed her the progress I'd made. She insisted on sitting down and doing some "knitting" herself. (Again, refusal of help from Mummy to get some genuine knitting done.) But the pretend knitting is sooo cute. She has the basics totally down. She sticks the right-hand needle into anything that looks like a hole in the work and waves the knitting around a bit, pushing back and forth with the needle in and out of the hole. What a kid.

2006-May-3

At last, at LAST, I got DD to help me knit a stitch on this last night. She put the needle through the stitch and wound the yarn around the needle (all with a decent amount of help from me, of course, but still, she did a fair bit on her own, too). I completed the stitch, and - voilà! - I can say to DH that DD truly did help to make this thing.

2006-Apr-9

This weekend I tried another tack with DD. I tried to explain that the scarf knitting was for us to share. While this didn't convince her to let me put her hands through their knitting paces, it did at least allow me to do some knitting on the scarf. I got close to two inches done and then started to get worried about whether we'd have enough yarn using just the one skein. So, with DD's permission, I frogged the whole thing and started again with some massive 12.75mms that I had hanging around, heaven knows why. It's going very well now, and with the huge needles, the fabric has some added interest, more than just your usual garter stitch plainness:

(hm...it doesn't look that interesting in this photo...maybe it's the scale that makes it interesting in person...in my next shot of it, I'll add a hand)

With any luck I'll be able to get DD to help with at least one stitch on this thing before it's done.

2006-Mar-6

We have run into a significant snag. DD, obsessed with the idea that the re-cast-on stitches are her knitting, is not only refusing to let me work on it (well, almost never anyway) but also adamantly denies all offers of knitting help. She prefers to stick one needle into random parts of the knitting and wave it around while I work on one of my projects. Thus we are 'knitting together', you see. While this is all incredibly sweet, it don't exactly get the scarf done! Conversations to persuade her to get onside have thus been complete failures. Such as:

Me: Can I show you how to knit, sweetie?
Her: I am knitting!
Me: Wellll...not exactly, honey, can I help your hands to do it?
Her: No, I am knitting!

Sigh. I mean really, what else can I do - she's two. It's a wonder she's interested in the craft at all. I don't want to give her a complex about it or break her spirit by convincing her that she isn't really knitting, so...I guess we'll just wait and see if she gets more willing to do the real thing down the road.

Oh, and did I mention that she refused to let me hide the knitting when DH came upstairs at one point? Then when he came in the room she totally spilled the beans: "I knitting, Daddy! I knitting a scarf for you!"

At least she didn't say 'for Father's Day' or there is no way I would have been able to pass that off to DH as her merely making up a little fantasy of knitting him a scarf. But clearly we have a long way to go before we grasp the concept of 'secret'. ;)

2006-Mar-3

So I had this idea. It came from the fact that it doesn't make tremendous sense for me to give DH socks for Father's Day, since it's more appropriate for his gift to be from his daughter, who obviously would not have made the socks. But, I thought, what if his Father's Day gift was made by DD? With a little help from Mummy?

Thus I hit upon the idea. She and I could knit something together! It would have to be easy and quick, with big needles and big yarn so that her little hands would have an outside chance of being coordinated enough to do the movements of knitting pretty well, with Mummy's hands guiding her.

Well, some years ago a friend of mine was de-stashing, and I picked up three skeins of Belle Vallée Wools 3-ply Softspun, 100% pure Canadian Wool (two with labels, one without).

At the time I really knew nothing about yarn, I just thought, "Oooh, wool for cheap!" and grabbed it. But now that I know a bit more, I'm very happy with the purchase - the wool is soft and cushy and chunky. My only complaint is that it's a dun grey/brown that I would never put near my face. I've been considering putting it up for auction on eBay.

But, thought I, what if I used the label-less skein of this wool and some big needles, and helped DD to knit DH a garter stitch scarf? Whenever she gets tired of knitting it (which I expect will happen frequently), I can take over, and whenever she wants to work on it again, we can pick it back up together.

So a few days ago, speaking in whispers to drive home the point that it's all secret, I asked DD what she thought of the idea.

She is HUGELY enthusiastic about this. She loves the yarn. And so far she hasn't spilled the beans, although she has yelled loudly about "Father's Day!" and "My knitting!" with DH in the house.

We did, however, hit a bit of a snag tonight when I tried to start (while DH was making supper). The unlabelled skein is actually wound into two different balls (because the skein was big and the ball winder couldn't take all of it at one go). DD somehow got it into her head that the big ball was mine and the small ball was hers. So when I started to cast on with the big ball, she got really upset because it wasn't her knitting. I tried to tell her they were both hers, and both the SAME, for heaven's sake, but she was having none of it and she kinda...well...lost it a little bit. (What can I say, we're having sleep battles again these days and she's tired and whine-prone.)

So I ripped it out and am now casting on with her ball.

Once I'm done casting on, we'll sit down when DH isn't around and do some mother-daughter knitting. This promises to be fun. :) And of course DH will completely plotz when he's told that his kid helped to knit his gift.

Hee hee. I'm so eeevil.