End-of-Winter Scarf

I was delighted to have a reason to visit the local yarn shop in Dover, NH, just a few blocks from James's apartment. What was my reason? My first real knitting project! I was ready to move beyond squares of stockinette stitch onto a real pattern, and after much (read: way too much) time spent perusing patterns online, I picked the Lace Ribbon Scarf from Knitty.com. I appreciate the chic look of scarves in any weather, and I didn't want to knit anything that wouldn't be used. I've been using a knitting video website to teach myself new stitches such as SSK and YO and k2tog, as well as various ways to cast on, and it's been tremendously helpful.

Anyway, I after brunch I beelined straight for the yarn shop (Spinning Yarns), enjoying every minute of yarn-browsing with the intent to buy. The pattern called for Classic Elite Alpaca Sox yarn, which is gorgeous, but out of my price range for my first ever knit. Plus they didn't have any solid colors. But besides, I didn't want to waste really amazing yarn on my possibly nonexistant knitting skills. Instead I picked out a neutral grey-blue color of Dalegarn Baby Ull yarn, which is thankfully machine washable and very soft.

Anyway, I was itching to try out the pattern when I got home later. Dude, I must have cast on, knit, and ripped out the pattern like 8 times without getting past row 4! The problem is that when I make a mistake, I don't know how to fix it except for starting over. By the time I got to attempt 10, I'd made it past that dreaded row 4 and I'm still going strong at row 22. Yay! But boy I was ready to kill someone after ripping out those stitches so many times. Aiyo!