Return of the Knitter

At various times in my life I've been quite the knitter. I know, that sounds weird. But still - it's true. My first project [and this isn't going to be a detailed history of my knitting life - it's just that this one has kind of a funny ending.] So my first project - a scarf I was going to give Clark for Christmas in 1996 - actually wasn't finished until 2002. It moved, in it's half formed stated in a bag (in utero, as it were) from house to house, until after I had Sam and suddenly needed to find ways to pass the time that weren't all that active. You can only put a kid in a baby jogger for so many hours a day. So I finally finish it, and it's remained a good topic of discussion, because when people see some of the more elaborate things I've made, they frequently talk about their own half-finished project, and I always say no worries, my first scarf took 7 years to finish.

But now this scarf is famous not only for being my first knitting project, but also for breaking an escalator at the Air & Space Museum. Truly. While we were in DC over New Years, we took Sam to Air & Space (which he LOVES), and as we were going back down the giant 2-story escalator Clark was casually dangling his scarf off his arm. . . right into the treads of the escalator. Which quickly started eating the scarf. And so, with only seconds to spare before he was engulfed by blind panic, Clark yanked it out of the escalator, and we all hustled off, as everyone else was left wondering why the escalator was slowly grinding to a halt. So the Air & Space museum still has a part of my first knitting project, and Clark's fervently hoping the security cameras don't have footage of him breaking the escalator and his ignominious retreat. But let's face it, they totally do. It's DC after all.

So anyway, I hadn't been knitting anything in a while (because I've been growing flowers and making candles, and also, while I love to knit, it's pretty much impossible to sell any of it at anything even approaching minimum wage.) But it's January, which is my slow time, so I decided it was time to indulge myself. With something fun, but not a terribly long commitment (unlike the beautiful but half-finished enormous lace shawl I've been half-heartedly working on for the last several years.) So here's what I came up with:

I know, it looks kind of weird. But imagine it without that weird neck tie, and in a darkish taupe color as a top layer over a long-sleeved shirt with a pair of jeans. And I know, you're still thinking it looks weird. That's what Clark thought too. But I'm telling you, it's going to look cool. Maybe. It takes vision to be a knitter, after all. I'll report back once I've got a finished project.