Well lookie here, what’s that? Oh a finished Backyard Leaves Scarf for Anna!

Pattern: Backyard Leaves (Scarf Style)
Materials: 3.25 balls of Knitpicks Merino Style (DK weight) in Petal (123 yds/ 50gms), Sz 5 needles
Notes: I’ve always wondered about Knitpicks’ 100% merino yarn and lucky for me, Anna happened to choose this yarn for her SYNO scarf. This yarn is soft, albeit a bit halo-ish when knit up, but is delightful to work with. The original pattern used a worsted weight yarn and Sz 7 needles, and since my original attempts with sz 6 seemed a bit holey, I dropped down to sz 5’s. The resulting scarf is drapey and soft, and I hope Anna likes it. It’s my first attempt at knitting for another fellow knitter, so I hope the results are up to par.
The book does not tell you how to graft the two halves together other than telling you to match the leaf veins — which I found impossible to do. The 10 CO sts in the beginning were done provisionally, so in the end I just put those 10 sts back on the needle and picked up the 5 additional sts from the 3rd row and kitchener stitched it. Since I have no shame, here’s the grafted portion. Before blocking, the scarf looked very 3D. I kinda liked it the way it was, but that would be a pain to wear. So in the end, it became the 2D version after blocking.
Anna, I hope you like it. If not, let me know what I could have done better to improve it so my next participation in swapping knitted items with other knitters will be better!

This is what I have on the Backyard Leaves for Anna so far. I’m knitting both halves at once, so I can avoid the 2nd half syndrome. Merino Style is wonderfully soft for this scarf, and I’m knitting the scarf on Sz 5 needles as opposed to the sz 7′z mentioned in the pattern. Then again, the pattern called for a heavy worsted weight yarn while I’m knitting with a DK weight. I hope to get this done soon and send it off so Anna won’t be cold and scarf-less in Canada. I hear Ottawa is an icebox in the winter. Just to prove to y’all that I do knit with colors other than pink, here’s my progress on Stephanie’s Spring Grass socks. I have some fingering weight 100% wool Japanese yarn in my stash and it wants to be these socks. I charted out the lace pattern in Excel so it’s easier for me to follow and so far, knitting these have been a breeze. They want to be knee-length socks. Psst.. I forgot to mention that I used Purly White’s tips on YO Short Row toes for these babies. Much much better than the wrap short rows. She posted an awesome demo and you should all check it out!

The yarn for my SYNO swap has finally decided to appear at my doorsteps, on my birthday too! Funny how that turned out. Took the US postal service long enough. I will be knitting Backyard Leaves for Anna. It’s interesting too, since I have been dying to try out Knitpick’s Merino Style, and that’s exactly what she sent. In pink nonetheless. I predict it’s going to be an enjoyable knit.And on top of that, she sent a pack of Canadian delicacy - Smarties! Wow the last time I had those was.. um.. when I was still in college. Brings back some fond memories. And the packages didn’t stop there. My 1 skein of yarn from Uruguay arrived today too - I guess that means finishing the Clapo2 won’t be too far ahead. Perfect for fall.
Oh, I’ve been tagged by Miss McSpazzitron. It’s one I did in July, so here’s the link to it.