My first design!! (and Irish Things, Part II)

I made my first design!!!! It's a scarf that I designed to go along with the "Hat with Cables" that I made for my friend Alex. I had just finished my Irish Hiking Scarf/Irish Hiking Wrist Warmers, and she had purchased yarn for me to make her a scarf, but I didn't want to make another Irish Hiking Scarf, because I was getting tired of the same pattern, so I looked at a bunch of patterns on Ravelry, and decided that none of them would match her hat, or were made on any size needles that I already owned. So, I got out a sheet of paper, drew up a bunch of stuff, did some math calculations, and...Presto! A scarf that matches her hat! It's cabled and ribbed, like the hat, wide enough to be cozy and warm, but not too complicated, so I can do it while watching TV or episodes of anime & still be able to read subs. I was trying to think of a name that would be good, but all I was coming up with was boring stuff like "cabled ribbed scarf", so I decided to ask my friend what she thought would be a good name. She immediately said, "Ordinary Day!" (based on a song that she really likes, which is also part of her screen name for aol). It fit perfectly, both as an interesting name, and it was fitting that she should name it, because I designed it for her, so...Viola! The Ordinary Day scarf was born. :-)


I'll post that up here in my next post so that it won't be in with the other stuff I want to write about in this post.

OK, so my Irish things are finished!! They are AWESOME. At first, I didn't think the wrist warmers were going to fit, but once I mattress-stitched them up, they worked perfectly!! I debuted them up at Mt. Irenaeus (an AMAZING retreat location run by my university), along with bringing the Ordinary Day scarf that I'm working on for Alex, and they were perfect--really really warm, and such a beautiful bright blue color--they're so cool.

Anyway, while I was waiting with a group of other students who had gone up for the evening, I got up the nerve to break out my knitting. Two of the other girls asked me what I was making, and my friend proudly told them that I was knitting her a scarf, and that I had designed the pattern especially for her. Then I brought out my Irish things, and they "oohed" and "ahhed" over them for a little, then promptly told me that they would pay me to knit them scarves/hats/anything. Now, I'm not quite at the point where I'd charge for knitting, so I told them that as long as they bought the materials, then I'd knit them stuff. The only guy in the group that went up was a little interested too, asking if I could make him a black & gold hat for him (black & gold being the colors of our Rugby team, of which he is a member). I told everyone that as long as they bought the yarn, I would knit stuff. I like knitting, whether it's for myself or for other people, and in my mind, the more people who are interested in sporting hand-knit items on a college campus, the better it is for the craft. :-)