Life coming at me

I was recently introduced to the concept of "Buy nothing, make something day" as an alternative to the traditional Black Friday madness. I sort of like this idea, and I've been thinking more and more lately about how to be more "green" and save money, too. It also appeals to me because I can so easily get caught up in the consumerism that seems to have become the Christmas season and forget that it's the thought that counts.

So I've been thinking of what I'd like to make. I found this snazzy set of instructions to make a no-knit scarf, and I thought that might be something neat to try. So I set off in search of bulky yarn. Now, I have tried the whole knitting thing in the past, and as much as I would like to learn, I have not had much luck with it. I get through about a row or two and lost interest, get frustrated, etc. But I figured this really only involved cutting yarn and tying knots, so I couldn't get too lost.

After failing to find yarn at the only local dedicated fabric store I know of, I decided to look at Michael's, since I know that they have yarn. I found waaaaaaay too much yarn I like (which may doom me to further attempts at knitting in the near future), but I narrowed it down to the two balls I purchased.

I spent the evening over at Bobby's, but once I got home, I decided to bust out the yarn. The super bulky dark red Lion wool yarn was calling my name.

I measured out 12 strands that were about eight yards long each and after wrestling with it for a little while finally figured out I could work much faster if I hung the in-progress scarf from a hanger in my closet. The work went quicker than I thought, and within about an hour (maybe a little longer), I had a finished scarf.

Sadly, the scarf ended up shorter than I wanted (only about 4'), but I think it's a good first effort. Here's the yarn and a glimpse of the scarf:



Other things I'm considering making are apple butter and pumpkin bread. Any other suggestions are welcome!