Willpower. I haz it!

So about 10 days ago I wrote a post with the title "I can haz willpower...?" By the time I had a chance to proofread it, things changed. It was no longer a question, but a reality. The theme over the past two weeks has been more like I HAZ willpower! That's knitting willpower, not blogging willpower, silly goose. :-P

Things in my life have been all over the place. As an aspy I thrive when my life goes along a highly regimented schedule. Since getting sick two days before my 41st birthday back in December, it's been everything but calm at chez yarn. Last Friday marked the beginning, it seems, of things really feeling on track. Not surprisingly, there's been a lot less yarn acquisition going on.

One of my post-holiday goals is to clear out my knitting basket and not cast on anything new until I do. I figured it would take a lot of willpower to do, and as I've kept to my goal, making significant progress, I've decided that this must mean I am a font of willpower. (Oh yes, I am a master of deductive reasoning too!) Now I just have to find the time to blog all the FOs.

The fourth project I completed this year, Claudia's Cocoa Scarf was finished a week and a half ago.

I purchased beads, intending to add beaded fringe. After two thorough attempts at the process I gave myself permission to hate beading. I'm sure if I kept at it, I would have found a way to make my ideas work. But more importantly, I would have succeeded also in forcing myself to be unhappy for who knows how many hours. It's never a good idea to knit (or bead) bad mojo into a gift.

Although I know I did the right thing for me, there's still that nagging in the back of my mind that I failed. Understanding on an intellectual level that I shouldn't have to bead if I hate it with the fire of a thousand suns, can't erase a fundamental drive to complete any task I set for myself. I've got to accept the things I cannot change, right?

Yarn
This gift project went through many iterations, and as many yarns. Some pics and details are on my ravelry project page. In the end I went with Bristol Yarn Gallery's 80% Baby Alpaca/20% Silk fingering weight yarn, Buckingham.

I used approximately 420 yards.

Monotonic browns are not a color I would normally be drawn too. Yet, as I knit on and on and on, the yarn, and even the color, grew on me.

Needles
One 16" Harmony wood circular size US3/3.25mm.

Pattern
Like the yarn choice, coming up with the perfect pattern was difficult. I really wanted to knit Claudia a Branching Out. It wasn't in the cards. One of the last yarn choices Claudia made didn't work with the pattern. So back and forth we went until we settled on the Jojoland Cashmere Scarf pattern.

It's the second time I've knit this pattern; it has a great rhythm to it. Was it just a year ago that I thought I could never enjoy knitting lace because of all the attention it requires? How wrong I was. The pattern has (I think) a 10 row repeat that is easily memorized. It was a very fun knit.