Friday, October 21, 2011

42 and 43...I Think

I have some finished projects but for the life of me I can't remember how many I have completed this year.  I think I am at 42 and 43....but who knows at this point.  
 These circle scarves are all the rage, and I have to say I love them.  The pattern is from People Webs.  If you look on her side bar you will find a link to her patterns.  I can't remember which of my blog friends found this first, if you are reading this let me know so I can give you credit.  When I saw it I wanted to get busy right away.  Well actually I did.  I rummaged through my stash and found some Misti Cotton in this beautiful muted red color.  I had bought two skeins a while back for 50% off so it was a great way to test this project.
 The directions are pretty simple even though it took me a while to catch on.  But once I did I was on a roll.  I doubled up the yarn and used a size N crochet hook.  I was only able to do two repeats of the pattern on the reddish scarf, but I think it is wide enough.
 The grey scarf is made from The Irish Girls Merino Silk in the Dorian Grey colorway.  I bought this yarn last week on my great yarn adventure down in Sarasota.  Actually I bought it with this scarf in mind.  Again I doubled the yarn and did about 2 1/2 repeats of the pattern.  It is a bit stiffer than the cotton yarn, and I am not sure I am actually going to keep it in a circle.  I may take it apart and use it just as a scarf.  I'll have to try it and see.
I love scarves but I don't like things tooo tight around my neck.  The pattern is beautiful enough for a circle scarf or just a regular scarf.  So either way it is a win/win.  I actually put it on last night right after I finished it.  I have a cold and it felt so warm and cozy around my neck.  

I watched the most amazing documentary last night on the Oprah Winfrey Network  It was called Miss Representation a Sundance Film.  It is about how women are undervalued, how our young girls and boys are routinely subject to women  as sex objects and not intelligent people who make the world a better place.  This is so prevalent in America it is scary.  I'm not sure how it is around the world but I do know that the USA is far behind other countries as far as the ratio of women to men in politics, media, CEO's of major companies, etc.  It is a sad state of affairs when women are slipping further away from equality as we progress in other areas.  It gave me a lot to think about and discuss with my sons.  I always try to help them understand that women are every bit as good as men (often much better in fact), and that they must treat the opposite sex with respect.  The website for this amazing show is missrepresentation.org please give it a quick visit and if you get the chance to view the show I would highly recommend it.

Happy Friday.



18 comments:

Annaboo's House said...

Love your scarves.
I've bookmarked this pattern to use too- it looks just gorgeous.
Have a happy weekend.
Xx

Grateful4Crochet said...

Your scarves look great- I love those colors, and that documentary sounds interesting.

Marjo said...

So beautiful !!!!!

Marjo

Teresa Kasner said...

Oh.. love the scarves and I am thinking of printing the pattern to take on our beach trip. Thanks for visiting my blog and wishing hubby a happy birthday! You are one of my blog friend treasures. ((hugs)), Teresa :-)

Petunia Pill said...

Uh-oh...dang it....I'm going to have to drop a few things and try one of these scarves! Geez-o-peet, why'd ya have to go and tempt me?????

I love Oprah...and her network. Problem is, I always need tissues when I watch anything from there! Is there anything she does that doesn't just reach deep in us and grab our souls with both fists? I will look into that program...it sounds oh so compelling. Thanks for the heads up!

Smarter than men? Why, I think you've summed that up quite nicely! LOL We are a dichotomy...our emotions make us so deep and lend us a wisdom like no other, but they also get in our way and stop us dead in our tracks sometimes!

Have a good weekend, my bloggy fast friend. It's good to know you're out there somewhere! (Makes me think of the song sung by Fievel (Linda Ronstadt)..."Somewhere...out there....."

Toni said...

Love the scarves! I'll be interested to hear if you decide to make it a flat scarf overall. I love the idea of circle scarves, just haven't ever gotten to them.

I completely agree about women losing ground in the US. Here in the ultra-conservative state of Idaho, we only had about a square inch to begin with, and that has been continually eroded by the far-right religious fanatics.

Unknown said...

Lovely. I can't believe you have done that many project this year. Wowza. Off to see if I can Tivo that show.

Rose Red said...

It's an interesting dilemma, that of women as sex objects - it seems to be embraced by younger women as making them "equal" with men ("why shouldn't I enjoy sex" etc) but they don't seem to get the cost of that supposed equality. And they see feminism as a dirty word. It's a big problem here too, I think, although at least we currently have our first female prime minister (equivalent to your president).

Anonymous said...

What pretty circular scarves! They look very snuggly :)

Sara said...

Hi Meredith. I've been admiring lots of circle scarves in the blogosphere. Yours are beautiful! And wow... 43 projects this year. Thats amazing! I'm far far behind you I think. I need more hooky time! Thanks so much for always leaving nice comments at Tangled Happy. I just love seeing you there. Happy Friday! :)

Pradeepa said...

Your scarves look great. The pattern looks very pretty.

Susanne said...

Hello girl! Hope all is well. Love the circle scarves. I did 1 this year, it was rather wide, so it took awhile. The smaller ones are great projects for quickie gifts and make great stocking stuffers. I am all about using up scraps and thinking one made in several colors would be interesting. Thanks for sharing the link. I am in awe of the fact that you have accomplished so many finished projects this year. I must be one slow poke, lol. I started out the year on a roll and somewhere it all fizzled out, I guess maybe when the garden started to come in and I had to can and freeze the produce. I made apple jelly last night. This house smelled so good. I agree about women and how they have always had to take a back seat to men when it comes to jobs and wages. Women are so under rated. I am so glad to hear you are teaching your sons to have a healthy respect of females. Every parent needs to teach their children to respect others. My daughter will have her son in March and she has already said she is going to teach her son to respect women :)

Leah said...

Your scarves are stunning! Thank you for telling me where to find this lovely pattern. I am definitely going to make one! Have a fab week.

Claudia said...

The scarves are really pretty, Mer. I can't seem to get going with my crocheting - probably because there's so much else to do around here and I'm a bit obsessed with the dollhouse.

The United States lags behind other countries in many ways, unfortunately. I'll have to watch that documentary.

xo
Claudia

Jane said...

Hi Meredith, it's been so long since I've had time to browse, I've missed seeing your work! These scarves are gorgeous - I must definitely make one. I love the colours you've used too!
Jane x
PS I think the reality shots idea is great - I know what you mean about how we generally show our best in our blogs. I suppose it's nice to have a little place of peaceful nice things though? But I should maybe start to post some photos of the weeds too - I did take a pic of where a patch of grass died when my husband oiled his bike but chickened out of posting it ;)

Monica said...

I tried to leave a comment the other day but with no luck. Your scarves are brilliant, even if I love to have them tied to my neck during the cold months ;) Love cowls, but when it's not too cold outside!
Big hugs from here,
Monica xo

Petunia Pill said...

I tried to figure out the pattern last night and think I'm lost. By the time I got to row 2 I was pretty certain I'd done something wrong in row 1! I definitely wasn't lining up the dc7tog over the correct stitches! So lemme ask you...in row 1, it says to turn and ch1...did you do that ch1 on your first row after chaining 131? I figured I should skip it. Also, the next instruction is "2 sc". Are those 2 scs in the same st or over 2 of the chains? I have the same question with the direction for 3 scs at the end of the repeating part of row 1...are those 3 scs all in one stitch or 1sc in three consecutive sts? Waaaah! Too many questions! Do you mind telling me what you did?

Petunia Pill said...

Thank you for your reply! It actually DOES make sense to me! Every word! With your wise words and guidance, I shall give it another try! I love your hills and valleys analogy...perfect! Hugs, Annette