Now that it won't spoil any surprises, I can blog about Christmas presents! This scarf, above, and mittens, below, were gifts for my mother. Like me, she's often cold...so mittens are a must when it's chilly outside, and more often than not, scarves serve as indoor AND outdoor wear.
It all started with a trip to Virginia in October. I knew Mom needed new mittens (the thumb on the old ones was wearing thin), and I was visiting my fabulous knitting teacher in Charlottesville...we couldn't pass up the opportunity to visit The Needle Lady yarn shop! I promptly bought extravagant yarn for mittens: a skein of Classic Elite Alpaca Sox, a skein of Be Sweet Boucle Mohair, and a skein of Stacy Charles Luna (sparkly mohair). The three strands together look like the mitten above! They are incredibly soft and warm, and the colors combined perfectly into a nice, soft purple with just a hint of sparkle.
I had a whole bunch of yarn left over, so I tried to brainstorm a creative way to use it up (to avoid adding to my frighteningly large- and multiplying- stash). I had made myself a scarf similar to this over the summer, and because it was so light and warm (mohair and alpaca = win) I decided it would be the best use of the remaining mitten yarn.
The scarf turned out really well, too. Because I alternated rows of different yarns, the color blending didn't work out exactly the same as the mittens...but I think that's a good thing. They match, without being exactly the same. Hopefully Mom liked them! We certainly need things like this to keep us warm over the last few weeks of winter. I just lost my mittens, so I have to knit a new pair. :(
