Sunday, January 15, 2012

Shelter Scarf, Part II: New Years

Wow. The last two weeks have passed in the blink of an eye. I've been sitting on this post all this time, weighed down by the burden of a deadline, never having the time to work out the words.

And what an adventure to share! For New Years, we drove west, west across the desert to celebrate the turning of the year in Joshua Tree ...


to bask in the sun, work our muscles, feel fingers on rock ...


That was Mountain Man, of course. And here's me, with my handknit, scarlet Cliff Dweller chalk bag:


We had plenty of sweet, quiet downtime in camp, too.


And on New Year's morning, I finally bound off the Shelter Scarf. Ta-Da!!


Very pleased with myself. I think this scarf is so damned cool and clever.


It's knit lengthwise, from one ribbed edge to the other, using horizontal cables that form interlocking circles.


Pattern to come ... someday. I have plans. But it'll be a while, I reckon.

Anyways, one more knitting anecdote from this glorious weekend. By the end of the weekend, I was worn out of climbing and intense sunshine. So while Mountain Man and his friend climbed one last hard route (Bird on a Wire -- they're tiny specks in the middle by the dark spot):


My friend and I stayed in the cool shadows of the valley. And I taught her to knit:


Long tail cast-on. Learned lightning-fast by nimble climbers' fingers.

8 comments:

Acorn to Oak said...

Looks like you had a wonderful time in JT ringing in the new year! We sure were having some great weather, eh?! It's so beautiful out there! Your new scarf is fabulous!

nordwolke said...

Love the scarf. I would love to do a lengthwise scarf sometime in the future again (did it three times in garter stitch) since I get bored by scarves knitted in the usual direction with endless rows. Great idea to incorporate the ribbing this way.

Florence said...

Lovely pictures! The scarf is beautiful, I really like the interlocking circle cables.

cobaltandindigo (Molly) said...

Love the scarf - all of it, the yarn, the pattern, the color. What does the opposite side of the fabric look like?

The pictures are incredibly inspiring to me, stuck in a cold gray snowy day here in Wisconsin, where even the sunshine seems to have left for warmer territory. Thank you for sharing!

Jackie said...

That first picture of Joshua Tree is unbelievably beautiful, and your scarf is magnificent! It's a gorgeous design, interested to see what the pattern will look like!

Turtle said...

nice, beautiful landscape and knitwear! We are hunkered down right now with snow storm warnings, which for our area mean people freak out! lol.... not this NEngland girl... i think it's fun! (now if i just had my cross country skiis)

yarnluv said...

gorgeous opening photo! love the scarf!

Rachel said...

What an interesting design...the sideways rib and interlocking cables works well!

I've only been to Joshua Tree once...long ago. Thanks for sharing it's beauty with us and allowing me to remember some very fond memories!