03/18/10: Took Karcher yarn shopping. He wanted yarn that would “feel like a scarf,” so chose the texture and the colorways himself.

03/27/10: Learned the long tail cast-on from YouTube videos. Used far too long a tail, but after the third tear-out-and-start-again repeat, I resigned myself to throwing away a yard of Eggplant.

03/28/10: Learned the knit stitch from Corrin. Completed 5 rows of Eggplant while watching DW 01.06, “Dalek”, and “My Summer of Love.” Realized that I need to use 14” needles rather than 10” ones; buying a new set is on tomorrow’s to-do list.

03/29/10: Bought 14” needles. Knit onto them and realized I’d been dropping stitches throughout. Ripped back to the beginning, wound the skein into a ball, cast on again, and re-knit the first 6 rows while watching Dancing With the Stars, Castle x2, House, and “The Clock.”

03/31/10: Knitting group night! Sarah taught me how to pick up dropped stitches with a crochet hook, and to throw yarn over the working hook in the proper direction; began to move much faster when every stitch wasn’t a struggle. Figured out how to change colors, and wound up with 12 complete rows by quitting time -- 1% complete!

04/01/10: Knitting with cashmere yarn is DELIGHTFUL; no splitting, it’s super soft, my gauge and tension are easy to control -- I just love it. I’m up to 24 rows (including three knit during my morning and evening commutes) with 2% complete!

04/04/10: Easter Sunday meant an hour on the train, so I knit up several new rows -- I’m halfway through with the first 50-row grouping of beige. I’m still really happy with my tension, and am improving technique to move faster with less extraneous motion.

04/06-07/10: Between the FGCH knitting circle last night and my subway ride to work this morning, I’ve knit 55 rows -- which marks the 5% completion mark! Knitting this silly garter stitch pattern makes me so ridiculously happy, as does Mike’s face every time I tell him about my progress, so continuing the effort isn’t the least bit difficult right now. 5 rows from changing color and putting away the lovely cashmere for a bit…

04/08/10: Hit the second color change point this morning; 60 rows complete. Bye-bye cashmere, hello wool-ease. (later) Knit the entire brown section (16 rows) while attending the Climate Wise Woman panel at NYU. Uploaded the first photo and changed to yellow upon arriving home…

06/18/10: After taking a significant break for baby and household projects, I picked this up again a week ago. I switched to bamboo circular needles (much easier to deal with the weight of the wool) and am zipping along with ease -- I knitted the 230th row before bed last night. Now that I have the technique down, my mind is wandering and I find myself making errors -- knitting rather than slipping the last stitch, adding a yarn-over without realizing it -- and increasing the width. I’m really tired of ripping back to repair, though, so must be better about keeping my needles and fingers focused.

06/19/10: Posted the second photo today.

06/22/10: At 30% and a little bit after the bus ride back to the city. My tension has loosened considerably, I’ve figured out the knack of counting rows properly, and my speed is improved -- I can do a row of straight knit in about 5 minutes (66 stitches) if I’m being particularly industrious.

07/05/10: At 40% and a little bit, after a long weekend away in Connecticut.

11/05/10: Finished 8 rows of purple to reach the 60% mark. It would NOT be possible to complete this thing if I weren’t being ridiculously regimented about the number of rows necessary to reach milestones -- it’s an interminable amount of knitting.

12/28/11: Mike is visiting and tried on the scarf last night. I’m halfway through the last section of green, which means I’m close enough to the 75% mark to call it there. He loves the piece thus far, and my new goal is to finish it in time for the Pinewoods festival this summer, so he can wear it as a calling ensemble, if he so chooses. Yay!

07/31/12: It’s Ravelympics time. I’m not actively watching the Olympics, though I’m following some of the feeds online -- but my goal is to FINISH this scarf by the time the opening ceremony concludes. As of this morning, I have 190 rows left.

08/06/12: I’m 92 rows from the end -- counting down in only double-digits! I spent an hour yesterday determining the tassel pattern and cutting all of the pieces for it. This baby will be DONE seven days from now.

08/10/12: Woke up at 4:30 when Corrin left for the airport; knit through the last brown stripe. Just 45 rows plus the bind-off to go!

08/12/12: D.O.N.E. Including the weaving in of ends, fringing, and trimming of the fringe. The photo uploaded today shows the scarf draped over a curtain rod; I’m letting the weight of the 11’3” monstrosity do the stretching work, as blocking a scarf seems ridiculous -- and I don’t have space available in NYC to stretch it out to the full length. It can hang to stretch until we return from the beach on 08/24, at which point I’ll pack it up and ship it off to Seattle for Mike. Yay!

Reading back throguh my “progress” notes, I’m amazed at how much I have learned in the last 2 years and 5 months. This scarf was my “learn to knit” project, and I have come so far since the multiple cast on and tear out steps back at the beginning in March of 2010. And while the last quarter has just been UNENDING, I’m so glad that I picked a really fun project that my friend will love.