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Aurora.



The good thing about the Operation Stash Buster and going through my stash of yarns was to see what I actually have before rushing to buy more every time I get an inspiration. For example: looking through my skeins it is hard not to notice the huge pile of different navy blue yarns. And I don't really even like blue! There is enough navy yarn to make at least 3 more sweaters (remember I already made one) plus additional odd and singular skeins of the same hue.

For a couple of years now I have been wanting to knit a dark blue sweater, but never got around to actually making one. There was always something more inspiring or "urgent" to knit first, and the project was left on hold. But when it came to buying yarn the navy sweater was on my mind, and I bought yarn ready for knitting one so that it will be the next thing I knit, or if not the next then the next after the next........ And a few years later I notice I have bought yarn for basically the same idea and inspiration over and over again. I don't want to knit four sweaters with almost the same yarn and shade! Even if I knitted them with different designs. One navy sweater is enough for me, or maximum two; the third similar one is already too much.


Now I'm trying to come up with ideas of what to do with the rest of my blue skeins since I already satisfied my need for a navy sweater by knitting the Peacoat sweater. I had almost 4 skeins of Drops Cotton Merino left over from that project; even after already using some for the Cousteau beanie. I also had a couple of skeins of the same yarn in a different color (#07 bordeaux) which I remember buying for a mitten project I never had time to knit (either). I liked how these two shades work together and decided to make a scarf with them. Mixing these two colors makes the scarf seem less blue to me and I'm actually really excited about this project, which I probably wouldn't be as much if it was monochrome blue.


I know I should be knitting the Redford sweater for Magnus if I'm ever going to get it ready even somewhat close to his birthday (I've already given up the last little glint of hope that I might pull it off by his birthday, since it's today and all I have ready is the back). But for some reason my mind wanders and I can't seem to concentrate on only one thing. The Redford is quite simple stockinette stitch back and forth and nothing much seems to be happening except for some increases every 20 rounds or so. I felt I needed something else to knit as a b-project, something a bit more exciting and creative. And even though this scarf is not the most intricate project ever, designing it myself satisfies the need for creativity and inspiration, as does the fact that there are no patterns or rules to follow.

This is quite an easy project. I started with a provisional cast on to leave me with the options of later either joining the ends together with kitchener stitch to make a circular scarf or ending the scarf with ribbing to make one long piece. At  the moment I'm inclining towards the circular scarf but I want to keep my options open in case I change my mind later on. I'm also knitting the scarf in a round which makes working with two colors a lot easier and there won't be any purl-side showing. It also makes the fabric thicker which is nice as the weather is gradually getting colder.


I have a hard time trying new things if I have something that already does the trick for me. But I'm glad I gave this yarn a go, because I really like it. I've already used it for a couple of projects and must say it is gradually becoming a new favorite. I hope Garnstudio would soon add more colors to the color chart: they only offer quite basic shades at the moment. The yarn is 50% cotton and 50% merino wool, gives a good stitch definition and doesn't pill or shed fuzzy pieces of fleece. It doesn't tickle my skin either, which is very important for me when choosing yarn for my projects. The merino wool makes the yarn stretchier than pure cotton would be, and the cotton part in the yarn gives it strength and shape pure merino would not have. 

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