I started by looking for a pattern. I tend to repeat the same favoured patterns and wanted something new and a tad challenging. I found: this pattern which seemed just challenging enough, but radically different from anything I've ever knitted.
The first challenge was to translate the pattern as I've never worked with an English pattern before beyond basic knit and perl stitches. That done, I had to find materials!
Going through my yarn bin, I found a 70% acrylic/30% wool blend in 'paprika' by 'Red Heart: Cozy Wool' in 100g (3.5oz) weight that seemed suitable, and for which I had an ample quantity in the same dye lot. The wool label recommended 6mm (10US) needles, which are my favourite size, so I went with those (I have every needle size, and more than one for the smaller sizes so I can knit in the round).
Supplies in hand (isn't it cool that I can go 'shopping' at home???), I cast on and spent a couple of pleasant hours getting a feel for the pattern. Here is the result of 2 reps of the pattern:
I can usually finish a project like this in two to three nights, so looking at my commitments for the next few days, I'll be able to wear it to work next Monday morning. I wear lots of browns and greens, so this scarf will go with most of my coats and sweaters. Probably one of the reasons I bought the yarn in the first place!
I might try to make mitts after since I have tons of this paprika left. The first (and last) time I ever tried to make mitts, I got discouraged since the second one wound up being bigger than the first. I know why that happened (too wound up for mitt #1 and too relaxed for mitt #2), so it'd be worth trying again. There might even be enough paprika left to make a tube-thingamabob ('passe-montagne' en français) that you slip over your head to cover it in lieu of a hat. That'll require knitting in the round with circular needles in a simple stockinette stitch, so it'll be more mindless than is the scarf.
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