Sweet Success!!!

At last I can post an update and proudly display my successful first attempt at intarsia knitting. Part of the reason it has been so long since my last post is because my latest project was a gift for a friend who sometimes stops by my blog. I'm not one to ruin a good surprise and more importantly wouldn't want to have built her anticipation if I couldn't actually complete the project the way I intended to. Thankfully it turned out pretty well. It may not be perfect but for my first shot at intarsia I'm just proud that it was good enough to be presented as a gift and the double hug thank you I received was well worth the frustration of teaching myself how to do this.

As far as the technique goes I will say that online instructions really do wonders, however NONE of the resources I have in books or found online discuss the art of "twisting" the two colors on the wrong side to prevent holes very well at all. This was definitely a trial and error situation but at some point after tearing it out and starting over for the third or fourth time I decided to go with it and see what happened. Frankly I didn't really know that you had to stockinette stitch to accomplish intarsia and since I made my own pattern I had little direction at the beginning. Once I completed the charted portion of the scarf I knew knitting in st st would be a breeze however I soon realized that this stitch (which I sort of knew previously) causes curling around the edges. So there I was with a great product that I didn't want to have to redo and a curled mess of scarf. This is where one knew technique parlayed into yet another: My first experience with blocking. At the point that I realized the scarf was going to curl quite badly I had no choice but to explore the world of blocking. Unfortunately the primary yarn I used for this scarf was a blend and everything I read about blocking with blended yarn was not promising. I gave it my best shot and after two attempts, it worked quite well.

Once I finished the scarf I really couldn't wait to give it to Sarah for her birthday. We went to the Cal game this weekend so it was the perfect place and time, especially given the recent change in weather. I knew she would appreciate the gift no matter how it turned out but she really loved it. One thing that is most rewarding about knitting gifts is someone who appreciates the work and art that goes into it. Since this was my first attempt at so many new techniques as well as my first original pattern it was quite rewarding when she put it on and turned around and said "and it's one of a kind".

That my friends is why I just love to knit gifts. Someday I will knit something to keep for myself but for now I'm just a knit-gift-giving junky, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Next on my radar are some gifts for my niece for Christmas and a few other holiday surprises that you'll just have to wait and see. I also came up with an idea for my own intarsia inspired pillow design, not sure when I will have the time to give that a shot though!