gift knitting is almost done!

Last week I decided to postpone the knitting of the freeform sweater, and that made me feel lots better. Better enough, in fact, to take on a couple more small projects as gifts. Feeling like I had plenty of time, I even started a gift for me, which is really not a very smart thing to do in December. But, that's what I did.
Over the Thanksgiving weekend, I found Lynne Barr's new book, Knitting New Scarves. I bought it, figuring I'd just wait until after Christmas to try any of these cool designs.

However, the Shag Scarf called out to me, and I got some Colinette Tagliatelli to make it. Last Friday, I sat down at Cozy and started. Thinking I had it under control, I took it to rehearsals and concerts all weekend, knitting a few rows here and there during breaks and intermissions. All was going well.
Tuesday at Cozy, I pulled it out to show a friend who had come in for help, and I suddenly realized that I had misinterpreted the pattern, and had been knitting it wrong all along. Disgusted, I ripped it out on the spot and decided to try it one more time. But first, I would make myself start the scarf intended for my sister. Maybe I incurred some bad knitting juju by knitting for myself when there were gifts to be (started and) finished. Sigh.
So, I started the wavy scarf for Linda, and it's a little trickier than I expected. Saving it for an occasion when I can sit down and read the instructions quietly, I set it aside and have been knitting on Shag after all because it is just so easy now.
Plus, I've been knitting Emma's little mittens, which were quick to knit. I used Peter Pan's Velvet Touch yarn and Ann Budd's general mitten pattern. Cute!
Now I need to go sit down and read those instructions quietly..................