a simple yarn

How many times have I read the following…’Please take time to check your gauge’…?

I’m in the midst of Christmas knitting…manly scarves…manly, but of the softest cashmere and merino blend. Yum! Still have a few lingering doubts about the shade of gray I’m working with. Not sure who, of the men in my family, will wear this. I keep knitting.

How long should it be? Knit the entire 3 balls? Check the book. Right, 50 inches. Have a ways to go. While I’m at it, check the width. Should be 7 inches. I measure. What, only 5-1/2? I thought it looked a little slim! Hmmm. Well, who’s gonna know?

And yet, those lingering doubts begin to manifest themselves into conscious thoughts of ‘No guy is going to wear marginally-slate-gray-that-looks-more-like-deep-cornflower-blue’ and ‘He’ll certainly not wear a petite-sized-scarf-around-his-neck’ and ‘I’ll have done all this knitting for it to be tossed in the bottom of a closet somewhere’. No thank you.

So, the bad news…the past few days’ knitting will not go into the pile of completed Christmas gifts. Back to square one.

The good news…that lovely, soft scarf will certainly feel good on me this winter!