Pink Breast Cancer Scarf* FO

*A bit of background for anyone unfamiliar with these kinds of programs...yarn is donated to a local knitting guild, members take it free of charge and return it knit into scarves (aka knitted "hugs") that are then distributed by the local cancer society to women starting breast cancer treatment. This is my first time participating in this program.

Pattern: Fancy Garter Ridges Scarf (9 1/2"x 58")

Yarn: Patons Divine (2 balls)

Colour: Chantilly Rose #06406 Lot#A3105

Needles: 7mm Aero Straights

Start: September 23 Finished: September 28, 2008

On the one hand...

• A fun, quick, gratifying and motivating knit - the scarf flew off the needles in a way that reminded me of that old cartoon from You Tube called "The Last Knit"
• No false starts - I was happy with the first stitch I swatched(Fancy Garter Ridges #213 Vogue Stitchionary vol. 1)
• The total quantity of yarn (2 complete balls) yielded what I think is a perfect scarf in terms of dimensions.
• Its also wide enough and long enough to wrap around the shoulders like a shawl.
• Wet blocking defined the stitches despite the haze created by the mohair content (10.5%) and the uneven texture of the yarn.
  

On the other hand...

• I couldn't help but think of the ultimate recipient of this scarf - likely a woman from this very city, who while I'm happily knitting is probably being newly diagnosed or discovering she is out of remission and is facing another round of treatment.
• Thinking of her made me mindful of my own responsibility to myself and my family and how lucky I am to have my health.
• Women in Ontario have access to a free Breast Screening Program that affords us the opportunity to be regularly tested for this terrible disease - I was aware of how privileged we are to have such a service and resolute to attend to my annual testing.
  
  

Regarding the yarn. Admittedly scratchy on the neck its soft in the hand and very warm. It would make a wonderful throw or lap blanket and as such would be a quick and reasonably priced but lovely gift. The soft pink of this colourway isn't so pink as to be intrusive or jarring but it also comes in a wide range of colours to suit any taste or decor. Best of all its very affordable. At 76.5% acrylic it is kind of "squeaky" to knit on plastic needles but larger needles (7mm) than called for by the yarn (6mm) helped to minimize that and to create a drapier fabric than when knit up at the specified gauge.

Finally, a little story that goes along with this project. On the subway late last week an older woman entered the car I was on and as she walked toward me I thought she looked very much like the women on my father's side of the family. She sat next to me and with a wonderful Scottish accent immediately asked what I was knitting. Here on holiday from Scotland, she too was a knitter and in one of those small world revelations we discovered that she was not only visiting family that live right in my neighbourhood but that she is from the same Scottish Clan as my father - she and her family still living in the same area of Scotland my father's family left to come to Ontario in the 1800's.

Its a small world in which this project has me feeling happy to be a healthy and enthusiastic knitter.