Infinity scarf: 1, Me: 0

There is something about this weather than makes me want to wrap myself from head to toe in knits. Maybe that its because it's 30 degrees and snowing or because it's constantly gloomy but knitting has become extremely therapeutic for me.

A particular obsession of mine has become the infinity scarf. Half necklace, half winter accessory there is nothing better in the entire world then a soft and fuzzy infinity scarf. There is something so cuddly and warm about a giant tube of fabric that you can wrap a bunch of times around your neck. Plus... they look kind of cool.

Thankfully, Martha has a recipe for a knit cowl (pictured right) that translated well into a infinity scarf with some modifications. Instead of casting on 44 stitches, I cast on 124 and knitted out from there. The result was a much skinnier but longer scarf.

As it turns out, infinity scarves are not super easy to make. Because they are circular, they require knitting in the round which I had never tried until today. It looked so easy! You just knit with circular needles, which are essentially needles that are attached together at the ends with a skinny piece of rubbery plastic. I thought it would be just like knitting with normal needles. And it is... with one exception: you have to be extremely careful of twisting the part that you have knitting and accidentally knitting in the wrong direction (note: this is hard to explain if you are not familiar with knitting).

Every tutorial I saw and read emphasized this. Don't twist it. Don't twist it. And guess what... I twisted it. I don't know how, but the resulting scarf, while it is cuddly and warm, is definitely twisted and cannot be untwisted. It has a sad, slightly folded-in look that I am sure will bother me to no end even though I will definitely be wearing this in the coming months.


You may have won this battle, infinity scarf, but I'll see you in the next round! I vow to knit a perfect infinity by the time this little experiment is over.

Damn you, wintry mix.

It happens every winter: the dreaded wintry mix. How can something so pleasant-sounding be so miserable? It's the same every time - circa 29 degrees, but feels like 10, snow, sleet, hail, ice blowing into your face until it stings. The ground is covered not with soft snow, but hard, slippery ice that and intermittent puddles and only the best Hunter boots can prevent a klutz like myself (or a "fall risk" as they call us at the hospital) from flying face forward and taking an ice bath.

Aside from the traditional winter staples that I have slowly started to trust since my move east (i.e. floor-length mummy-sleeping-bag-like down coat, scarf, winter socks), there is nothing like a warm wool headband to keep the snow off your face.

Thankfully, Martha had just the knitting project to keep the wintry mix at bay. Less thankfully, my knitting skills were really rusty when I began. The project was a cabled headband (cabled matching mittens to come once I master this whole cabling thing). The whole thing took me 8-10 hours of hard labor and in the end, my fingers are definitely burning and probably will be for quite awhile. That said, I was pretty impressed at how easy it is to incorporate an I-chord and cables into a normal knit-pearl repertoire. For those of you who don't speak knitting, suffice to say that even an impatient knitter who always loses count can do this.

Although I definitely don't look like Martha's model (or Martha), I have to say that my project is pretty close to Martha's. Day 2... look at me go! More ambitious knitting to follow? It's a good thing.

Mine (tied to a chair):.....................................................And Martha's: