That's pretty much the end of the scarf I've been weaving since October, and I cannot tell you how glad I was to see the end of it. It was easily the roughest project I took on this year.
You know what - even though having and using a loom is a very practical solution to a lot of problems, there is just so much about weaving I don't love. To finish this thing I had to make myself think about all the objections and how to correct them, in spite of the fact that moaning over it all is so much more satisfying.
Bottom line? I always get a sore back doing it. So I put a cushion onto the back of the chair I use and voila!
So much easier to finish a project when you're not in pain.
(your eyes are not deceiving you, no. the sides of this scarf are very wobbly. this is probably another thing I don't love about weaving that can only be fixed by spending even more time on it: I'm not good at it yet.)
Another brilliant innovation that might help you some day was to play a lot of Christmas music while I worked - that kept me from getting too bored while reminding me why I was sitting in that chair in the first place, though I suppose that would have only seasonal effectiveness. I mean, if I try to weave some scarves in January to cut down next December's pressure, my brain would probably notice the trick. Of course, if I'm really tired, I might still get away with it.
As you're finishing off a marathon project like this your thoughts are guarantee to turn to what's next, 'what's next' hopefully involving some sort of delightful form of procrastination. In my desperate state however, it was all about finishing off the next gift knit.
So after I'd finished tying off the first set of ends and got the second set off the roller...
I took a break to check on a gift knit I'd set out to dry a couple of days before. I wanted to be sure it was right, because my next job was to knit a second gift just like it except for the colour.
:: Cue the doom music ::
and it was awful
scratchy and, frankly, smelly
definitely not giftable
ooohhhmigosh
Being Resourceful
Obviously, I was going to have to reknit Gift A in new yarn, and I was also going to have to come up with a new idea for Gift B. A stash-yarn investigation proved that I am pretty much out of bulky yarn that knits up fast, and there wasn't any time to get to a yarn store either. I was going to have to improvise.
Accepting Reality
I came sadly back upstairs and looked at the scarf I'd just pushed my way through, and I tied off all the ends, and I picked it up and draped it over my shoulders and looked in the mirror. The sides are absolutely not straight, but it still looked awesome.
So awesome that there was very obviously only one solution to my problem.
yep, I had to start a whole new scarf.
But that's also a whole new story - so drop by again tomorrow and I'll tell you how it came out!
