Greetings dearest Unravelers!
We are halfway through January… the days are just steadily marching along.
I have some finishes to share with you all today and a new beginning! Or should I say a finished project and a “technically finished, but still lacking” project.

It is the perfect length
First up… the Marled Sequence Scarf! This scarf is entirely based on MDK Field Guide No. 19: Marls with patterns by Cecelia Campochiarro. Originally, this sequence of stitches was used in the Color Explosion Throw… lovely… truly lovely. But what might happen if you just focused on the throw as a scarf?! Pure joy… 1000% pure joy, that’s what! Cecelia put together the kits with Ito Kinu… 6 colors eager to become 15 unique marls.

A peek inside my new way of tracking my making this year…
I mapped out my journey, cast on and soon the pattern became a meditative mantra as I knit and purled my way across the rows. To say I loved this project is an understatement… it was pure knitting joy! A project to bring myself back to the most basic of knitting… just simple knits and purls in sequences. I truly wish you could feel how this scarf feels… it is soft and the silk “stickiness” makes your hand want to linger. It is brilliantly warm… I gave it a test drive pre-wash on a walk with Frankie and it is perfectly cozy… with not one bit of the tingly-ness that wool sometimes feels like.

And yes! I did not run out of any of the yarns though some got close…

I love how the colors flow one to another.

And there is no right or wrong side… which makes it even better!
With all that is perfect about the scarf, I share my December Gnome that is currently feeling less than perfect to me. While Gnana the Gnome is technically done… she feels incomplete.

My finished Gnana… she seems lacking to me… unfinished.
She needs some tweaking… I want her hooded cape to be different. I have this vision in my head of the cape attached with the hood hanging down, but I have not been able to accomplish that without some further fixes that I have not yet figured out (what I have tried has not worked thus far.) It needs a clasp of some sort. The hood needs a small tassel as well, I think. And her “attached” gnome hat needs some help as well. I am at the drawing phase of trying to figure out what might work/look best currently.

The hood needs a tassel and some way to hold the front closed.
However, I do know that Gnana is going to be a welcome addition to the Gnome Village… she is the bringer of Christmas (as you can see by her wreath) and everyone is very excited about her arrival in the Blue Cupboard.
I also swatched and began a new sweater. After a few fits and starts on the cast on, I settled on an entirely different cast on (Thanks, Patty Lyons) and I like how it looks! I am inching along on 2×2 ribbing and am very happy.
If anyone is wondering how spacing out my reading is going… well, wonder no more! I am loving the “digestion time” and I just finished listening to Niall Williams Time of the Child (and really, I don’t want to depart from Faha… so I am lingering) I loved it… the writing was perfection! At night I am reading a chapter or two from a Netgalley read… a new novel by Jo Nesbø, Blood Ties. Fantastic writing, a riveting story as only Nesbø can do! I have miles to go before I finish it… so good thing I am enjoying it! Ha!
So there you have my week of making! What about you all… what is exciting you about your January days?
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!
Wow, wow, wow. That scarf is just gorgeous. And I love how you mapped it out so prettily in your journal!! It is clearly going to be worn a TON! And your next cardigan looks cozy and lovely – can’t wait to watch it grow.
I’m on the waitlist for Time of the Child. I recently read This is Happiness and wasn’t totally in love with the author’s style, but did feel like I got a lot out of the story. So glad you’re loving what you’re reading and stitching lately!!
That scarf is just spectacular! I love the flow of the colors and that the stitch pattern is reversible. I hope it keeps you very warm these chilly days!
I am sure that you will make Gnana perfect and just as she needs to be to fit in with your other gnomes.
Your shawl is perfection! Love how the colors all work together, yet distinct . I always enjoy looking at your gnomes…so cute. Would love to see a pic of an updated gnome village you have going. Take care and stay warm. Winter is finally going to arrive here in NOCO.
What a lovely shawl/scarf. The colors are very . . . Kat . . . and I think it will bring you much joy and comfort in the cold days ahead. I’ll be interested to see your new sweater come to life. It’s such a unique and lovely design — but I’d never be able to wear it myself . . . because of Those Sleeves. (I know wide sleeves are all the rage, but they are most definitely Not For Me.) And your gnome, of course, is another charmer. XO
Oh Kat! What a magnificent scarf you have knit. It is gorgeous!! The colors are so beautiful and blend together so well. Congratulations!! I’m very confident you will figure out Gnana Gnome’s cape and soon she will be settled in with everyone else in your little gnome village. I love her granny glasses!! Your new sweater start looks like it will be cozy.
Your scarf is perfectly wonderful! Beautiful, warm, no wrong side; you make me want to knit one of my own. I love Gnana’s cape and I’m betting that you get it figured out. Your new sweater is interesting. My grandmother used to call sleeves like that “drag them in your soup sleeves” which is what I would surely do. You, I’m sure, will be more graceful in your cozy cardigan.
Aha! You’re going to be Banging Out A Cardigan next month!??
Your marled scarf is really lovely. Gorgeous colors.
I haven’t touch Gnana (nor anything else) in over a week. I plan on taking her to Charleston… and hope for a finish there!
love love love that scarf, it is so beautiful!!! and isn’t it nice you did not run out of yarn, an extra benefit.
What a beautiful scarf. I love that is was such a peaceful beautiful knit for you. The colors are spectacular. Silk and wool is a lovely combination of fiber. Even the leftover yarn will be fun to incorporate into a project or projects. I’m sure you will arrive at a solution for this latest gnome. Sometimes taking a little break to let my subconscious work on an answer helps me. I agree, a little digestion time for reading is a good thing. I’m wrapping up the handspun sweater and so far so good. I can hardly believe my luck.
That scarf is a work of art, Kat. The drape is so lovely and the colors are stunning. You did a grand job. Gnana looks good to me but I know your modifications will make her even more special.
Your scarf is stunning, Kat. I always love seeing your color studies. And the way you recorded and mapped them in your journal is simply beautiful.