I finished up this knitting project, a cowl (or infinity scarf) for my Grandma Baker, during our trip. (I can freely share about it now because I sent it to her as soon as I got home.) I knew I wanted to knit a cowl for her, and looked for yarn until something called out to me. This beautiful, deep wine color immediately made me think of her (I love when I find yarn that really makes me think of someone) and though there was no name for the color listed on the tag, when I entered the colorway number on Ravelry it said Merlot, which perfectly describes the color. I wanted to knit her cowl with super soft and cozy yarn, so the 100% baby alpaca yarn was perfect in more ways than one.

I got started on her cowl in November, right after I finished up the one for my sister. It was the perfect knitting project for plane rides and traveling because it was easy knitting that didn’t require constant pattern checking, or my full concentration to work on it. Originally I had planned on knitting her Marian by Jane Richmond, but the gals at the knitting shop I was at said the yarn I chose wasn’t bulky enough, and would be better suited for the GAP-tastic Cowl by Jen Geigley. I checked out that pattern and it was a seed stitch cowl like I had in mind, and looked beautiful, so I cast on. (GAP-tastic Cowl is a free pattern on Ravelry, by the way.)

I didn’t get it finished in time for Christmas because it was a project that took awhile to complete with the length. I used two skeins, knitting until I ran out of yarn. (My modifications are on my Ravelry page here.) I did get the cowl finished in time to send to my grandma in the winter, though. It was such a cold winter where she lives that I was glad to be sending her a warm handknit in January! I didn’t do much knitting at the beach during our Florida trip (hello shelling! and sunset watching!), but I did finish the cowl there. I loved being able to knit sunshine, salty air, and sand into those last stitches… and hoped a bit of that wonderful beach magic would be woven into it forever. When I finished it, I noticed the coolest looking driftwood sticking out of the sand nearby, so I took some pictures of it there. I’m grateful for the handmade things my grandmas made for me when I was growing up, it made me feel loved. Now I enjoy being able to give them a little handmade love too.

P.S. I can’t wait to share a fantastic knitting-related story in my next post that happened during our trip.