First, a confession. I got all pensive and managed to forget the real reason for writing a blog. It’s supposed to be fun! If I’m not interested in something, why would I be interested in writing about it? And why on this earth would anyone be interested in reading about it? It’s just that, well, I know it’s stupid, but I feel embarrassed that currently a lot of my interests involve the domestic arts: gardening, cooking, and now knitting.
So I knitted a scarf. A pretty, pretty scarf with nice soft yarn. And couple of big mistakes.
First I twisted the stitches. Basically I put the needle into the back of the stitch instead of coming through the front. When you’re doing it on purpose, it’s called combined knitting. Except I wasn’t doing it on purpose.
You can see where I realized I was doing it wrong. On the right side, twisted stitches. Having knitted about two feet of scarf, rather liking the effect, I finally watched the video again. Then I corrected myself and kept going. Thus, on the left side, flat stitches.
Then there’s the curl. I’m not exactly the first one who wanted to knit a nice simple scarf. You knit one row, which pulls the loops toward you. Then you turn it over and purl the next, which pulls the loops away from you. It’s call stockinette stitch. Repeat until you really think you know how to knit. Then you pick up the warm coil nestling in your lap and admire how all the loops lie flat on the same side, while the other side is all nubbly. And then you “admire” how fiercely it curls.
Turns out the nubbly side is tighter. Or maybe it’s the loops are bigger. Either way, that scarf curls like it loves itself and no other.
It’s okay, I told myself. It’s kind of cool really. I like it just the way it is, I told myself again, that the twisted stitching has a cool texture, that the extra air trapped in the curl means it’s like having a very warm snake around my neck. Nah. Not working.
I love editing too much. So in the spirit of revision, I’m going to tear it down and do it over.
But first I really need some new gloves.
Writing Every Day 
Hi Pam–
The scarf will always curl. You need to block it. Haven’t done this in a while so you should get better details from the web or someone else. But basically you need to dampen it and then gently iron it flat.
Hi Meryl!
I read about blocking it and thought about it, and it feels too much like forcing the knitted fabric to something it doesn’t want to. Besides, if I reknit it, I can practice a new pattern.