My current knitting project is this beautiful red scarf made from 100% mink yarn. I’m hoping it will look and feel good in December when I plan to wear it with my Christmas clothes.  I’m writing about it today because it’s a good illustration of my improvement as a knitter.

The pattern is called Kelp Scarf, and it’s available for free as a Ravelry download at http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/kelp-scarf-2.  It has this pretty lace pattern at either end, and the rest is all garter stitch.

I knitted the same pattern about a year ago as a Christmas gift for my friend Kerry. I struggled and struggled with the lace.  As a matter of fact, I worked on it on a 4-hour car ride to visit our grandkids. I ripped it out so many times (and undoubtedly said a few choice words), I was in the same place when we reached our destination that I had started at.

This time around, I completed the lace with zero errors.  Zero errors is an exceptional accomplishment in my knitting life, and this red scarf is a symbol of improvement for me!