brioche scarf for #1 Son

Yesterday (Thursday), #1 Son planned to come down to my work place-of-business to exchange something I needed from him for a few things I had for him.

He had requested that I knit a scarf for him from some of the mystery sock yarn he brought me from Germany, and, although I’m not all that fond of knitting scarves, I was happy to oblige because he is, after all, my kid, and he was nice enough to bring the yarn home, and it’s pretty yarn. But, being not that fond of knitting scarves, I cast around for some manly stitch pattern that could be worked quickly on fairly large needles, but would still be warm and cozy. I cast on last Friday evening, and the timing could not have been better. Autumn has arrived with a vengence, and it’s cold! I’m wearing wool socks every day now, and wrapping up warm. I didn’t want #1 Son to have a cold neck. Although he does have other scarves I’ve knit for him.

So I cast on. And I knit a bit on the weekend, but I was pretty busy. I knit during teleconferences on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. But it wasn’t growing all that quickly. It was the only project that I brought to Wednesday Night Sip ‘n’ Stitch so I had to work on it. And I knit and knit. And I went home and planned to finish it up so all I had to do was the fringe. And I settled down for a little late-night knitting. And promptly fell asleep in front of the TV. I woke up at 3:00 AM, and knew that no more knitting was going to happen that night.

Thursday dawned clear and cold and I was still scarf-less. I knit through teleconferences and while reading email and during conversations and while reviewing presentations. I stopped only to eat a quick lunch and when I had to type or otherwise use my hands – making sure, of course, that work did take priority and was not impacted by several feet of scarf a few stitches here and there.

After lunch, #1 Son and I had the following phone conversation:

Judy: Can you come at 5:00?

#1 Son: No. I have to be at work at 4:30. I could come at 2:00.

Judy: No. You can’t come at 2:00. How about 3:15? Can you come at 3:15?

#1 Son: Uh… OK. Whatever. I can come at 3:15.

Judy: That would be great. But don’t come before then. And don’t come after because I have a meeting at 3:30.

#1 Son: OK. I’ll see you at 3:15.

It should be noted here that #1 Son is used to my peculiar ways, and thus the relative lack of comment on the apparent state of my mental health.

At 3:05 PM I finished applying the fringe and gave it a final trim. Loopy helped model it for me, as trying to catch #1 Son long enough for a photo op is nearly impossible.

At 3:15 PM, the scarf was delivered to #1 Son, who said, Cool! It’s perfect. Or words to that effect.

The Particulars:

• Yarn: Mystery sock yarn from Germany, brought home in #1 Son’s guitar case. I used all of one ball, which I’m guessing had about 450 yards on it.
• Needles: Addi Lace 24″ circ, US#6 (4.0mm)
• Techniques: Brioche stitch. What seemed like miles of it.
• Finished size: 7″ x 50″, unblocked and not including fringe. #1 Son likes shorter scarves, so this worked out about right. There was no time to block it, but it didn’t really need blocking anyway.