Surprise, surprise!! Needle revelations, and a ball changing tip in the Chevron Scarf KAL

Dear all,

I've got big plans for Chevron Scarf city here at Wanderlust Knits. I'm full to bursting with plans for colour combinations for people I know and love. But the biggest barrier to actually following through on these was not a lack of yarn (considering I've already bought it) or a shortage of needles (how many 3.75mm needles do I own? You don't want to know...) or even lack of passion for the project despite the intervening months.(1st project conceived in May, first scarf started in June) Nope.

My biggest problem was straights vs. circs. I have straight needles everwhere. I like them for some things, but I hands down and 100%ly hated them for this project. It turns out that, despite how much I want to love straights, I just ain't a straight kinda girl. (Take that how you will. It's probably true on more than just needle-y levels.) For months and months and months (6 to be more or less exact) I only made about 5inches progress on my scarf. Holding the long (14in) straights really bothered me (10in is more my thing) and the Brittany Birch needles don't have particularly pointy tips (which wasn't perfect for k2tog or kfb) and the yarn doesn't slip along the needles very well, they're not slick like bamboo needles.

I did happen to have some new Addi Lace Circs in stash for another project I'd just finished (Hello Aubergine Shawlette, glad to finally meet you) in exactly the right size so I switched them over 3 or 4 days ago. After 6 months with less than an inch per month (1 inch total per month if I'm feeling generous) and within days of switching from dull birch straights to pointy metal circs I'm now just over halfway there. I don't have a measuring tape here at work but I've just measured it against my leg (which is looong folks) and it goes from my hip down to the floor. The scarf is for someone who's approximately much shorter than I am so I reckon in another two or three days I'm done.

This is fantastic progress after so much project guilt! My friend will definitely have it in time for Christmas, and as a recent poster (Kristin wasn't it?) just said it's already cold in Washington so the gift is long overdue! Furthermore the colour combo is fantastic (thanks, Tiennie!!). It's STR Mediumweight in Monsoon and Footzey
Foo. I am so chuffed at the colours I'm thinking of making one for myself! After I make the other 6 I've got planned anyway. :)

Much of my progress was made this weekend in the car and on the ferry ride to France and then in the car around France and then in the car and ferry ride back from France. Also, much TV knitting has been done. And it knits up so fast! Amazing how a project grows more when you work on it than when you don't!

Also, I recently bought a lovely project bag from Piddleloop and I put my two huge STR yarn cakes into the bag so that they sit side by side. This makes it SO much easier to change colours. I don't have to worry about tangles or fiddling with moving one ball under the other. I just turn the bag so the working yarn (new colour) can be picked up in front of the old colour and then back again at the next change. It's genius. I'm sure you all have thought of this before but it's a new and wonderful revelation to me. I've got this Chevron thing down pat! (Except for the time when I k2tog on the wrong coloured row, and the time I knit the patterend row, purled all the way back, and then became convinced that I'd knit it in plain stocking stitch and tinked or lruped all the way back only to find I HAD done it right. Except for that I've got it down pat.)

I promise to post photos as soon as I can get a daylight picture (probably tomorrow...)

It's seriously unblocked though so you know, curly scarf photos. Everyone's favourite. But I just have to show you my progress!