Thursday, April 30, 2009

Villain

Have you noticed that villains in comic books and Disney movies are often portrayed in the colors, Purple and Black? For example, Ursula, the sea witch, in Disney's Little Mermaid and the Joker from Batman. While I was knitting this scarf, the word, Villain, kept popping into my head. Maybe it was the colors or maybe it was from the dark thoughts that were running through my head from some recent family drama/stress (not from my little family).

I told my husband that I was going to name my scarf, Villain, and he gave me some strange looks. To validate myself, I did a Google search and found that I was correct about the purple and black color scheme being used often in villain characters. For those of you who remember Transformers, those colors were often used for the Decepticons (the bad guys). DH should know that since there are Transformers toys action figures all over the house.This was the ultimate pattern for comfort knitting. Miles of garter stitch, increasing every 4th row, changing colors every 2 rows until I used up 1 ball of each color. Then I started the decreasing with the leftover 2 balls. It held my interest, but didn't require any concentration. The no concentration part was needed because I spent a lot of time on the phone trying to sort through the situation with different family members. I swear that I must have the word, MEDIATOR, tattooed across my forehead. Whoever said that knitting is cheaper than therapy is right on.This scarf is so soft. The 2 yarns couldn't have been more different. The Louisa Harding Kashmir DK is a chained construction, while the Louisa Harding Grace Silk & Wool is a single strand with no plies. It's a bit delicate because sometimes it got a bit splitty from untwisting during the knitting. The black really toned down the purple and I wasn't quite sure in the beginning if I liked the combination of these two yarns. But the more I knit, the more I fell in love with it. (Do you notice some one's little hand in the above photo? I didn't notice anything until the scarf started sliding away from the view finder on my camera.)I simply adore my Villain scarf! Since, I hardly ever knit anything for myself, this will be selfishly kept for myself. (Enter evil laughter here.)
I keep forgetting and today is the last day, but April marks the 5th anniversary of my blog. So, Happy Blogiversary to me. Thank you to all of you for reading my blog and taking the time to comment. I appreciate each and every one of your kind words and support. Through this blog, I have met (online and in real life) a lot wonderful people. People that share my interests and hobbies and even some who just come here for pictures of Melody. Thank You!

Pattern: Baktus (free pattern)
Needles: US 6 / 4.0 mm
Yarn: Louisa Harding Grace Silk & Wool, 2 skeins =220.0 yards in color: Purple 08. Louisa Harding Kashmir DK, 2 skeins =232.0 yards in color: 11 Black.

35 comments:

*karen said...

Aww, I'm glad you're making stuff for yourself..

LaBean said...

Happy Blogiversary!!

I giggled when I read about Melody pulling the scarf away.. THEN I looked a the pic again, and noticed her hand. Good on you for knitting something or you. It looks great! Thank you for the link to the pattern. I need to use up some yarns and this might be the ticket.

yahaira said...

happy blogiversary!

that scarf came out great, I love the combo of colors and textures.

that Melody is a sneaky one!

Natalie said...

Great scarf!! And I have to agree with the villain thing. I immediately thought of "Maleficient" from Sleeping Beauty! Happy Blogiversary! I'm so glad we "met" on blog-land!

Nettie said...

I love that color combo! Purple is my favorite :D

I'm glad to be one of the crossed over into real life friends! Happy blogiversary to you! You deserve to knit for yourself for a change, you're so generous.

Rima said...

Very evil :) You deserve a handknit for yourself.

flanthrower said...

This is lovely! IT's good to do a little selfish knitting every now and then.

And Happy Blog Anniversary! I'm so glad to have met you via the craft blog world. I'm looking forward to another year of beautiful posts!

Lisa Stepi said...

That's a beautiful scarf and that yarn looks yummy.

CynCyn said...

even if you didn't purposefully make it for yourself, i'm glad you're keeping it! sorry to hear about the family drama. I heard you made some dumplings. That will make everything better, no?

Amber said...

It's beautiful...and the name is great too! Happy 5th blog-versary - wow! I love the little hand in the picture - so cute!

caitlyn said...

Happy blogiversary! Your blog is one of my favorites.
I love your new scarf...and that little hand in the photo is adorable! She is already trying to "borrow" your accessories! :)

LittleCanoe said...

Happy blogiversary!
I love the scarf. Congratulations for finally knitting something for yourself. It needs to happen at least every once in a while.
xoxo

Salihan said...

Your scarf looks better than the original on Flickr! So squishy and warm. Mmmmm... Good on you for being selfish knitter, even though it probably doesn't happen often enough!

And 5 years! Wow! Congrats! ^_^
- me@salihan.com

Jackie said...

Gong Xi Gong Xi !!

What a interesting name for your beautiful (not villian at all) scarf.

rohanknitter said...

Wow, 5 years, great job! Not everyone can be so consistent for such a long time. I love your "villain"

claudine said...

Happy Blogiversary, Oiyi! I've always found your blog so inspiring.

I love that scarf! Stripes in garter stitch are just delicious. I used to dislike garter stitch a lot (probably due to association with my disastrous early attempts at knitting) but nowadays I really like it.

Anonymous said...

I must be a villian cause I love this colour combo...lol.great work.

Rebekah said...

that is the perfect name for this color combo! I love it. I hope your family drama is quieting down. I guess I'm lucky because I live about 30 minutes from the concentrated radius of my family, so I usually hear about things after the fact.

That louisa harding yarn is so pretty! I really love her stuff. If you haven't washed it yet, I would recommend it as I've had a lot of dye leak off of her yarn (into water and on my needles)

c.Rachel said...

I love how you write about your knitting. The yarn, the feel, the process. I really do!

Looks good on you! Glad you kept it too. P.S. loving your denim jacket again. It's making me think about dusting off of OLD Levis jacket from late 80s.

Cindy said...

I like your colors! I think once in a while you have to be "selfish" and enjoy your own work! :)

hetty said...

Happy Blogiversary! I adore your Villain Scarf too!

Rachel said...

Beautiful scarf!

Jeanne said...

Happy Blogiversary!

Gorgeous scarf - I love the colors! And I think its great you are keeping it for yourself!

Kristy said...

Happy Blogiversary! I'm sorry you're having difficulties, but I'm glad you have a snuggly scarf to show for it. Yes, I agree that purple and black are very villany colors.

Elaine/Muddling Through said...

Well, that's rather a sinister name for such a lovely scarf. I'm glad you're keeping it for yourself. And yes, I did notice that little hand. It's hard to keep them out of things, isn't it? We're hitting the nineties here in Houston this week, so I can't even imagine still wearing a scarf. :)

Kyoko said...

Happy Blogiversary!!
What gorgeous scarf you have made! I can see the color is changed so neatly. Knitting in garter stitch is so therapeutic. I totally agree. I love the naming of your scarf. It's very original :D
BTW, I have corrected Paypal button. It is now working ♥ Thank you for letting me know.

kim said...

When I saw the two colors together, I immediately thought of Maleficent (my favorite villain) from Sleeping Beauty. I love it!

Hannah said...

Now those are my kind of colors! I hadn't thought about it before, but you're right about the whole "villain" color scheme... Very interesting...

Micki said...

The scarf is lovely, you evil genius! And happy blogiversary!

Agnes said...

Villain or not, I think the two colours go very well together. I always like black ... and the purple is one of the royal colours in Chinese culture.
Happy Blogiversary!

zakkalife said...

Wow, five years, happy blogiversary!

I think the little hand in the picture is quite sweet. From her eyes, I'm sure it looked like a cuddly blankie.

FRIZZ said...

OMG - those puppies in your header are too sweet!

Unknown said...

You select the nicest yarns and make such pretty items with your incredible perfect stitches!
~Emily xx

Sam said...

LOVE the villain scarf! Great colourway. And I love that little hand - maybe she is saying mwah ha ha it will be mine? Congrats on your bloggiversary too!

Judy said...

Happy Blogiversary! Love the scarf, the colors look great together.