Time Travel, Pineapple Scarf, and a Giveaway

I did a little time traveling today .... for this story, we have to go back to June, 2009.  Before we had either of our grandchildren and before we bought our Oregon farm.  I was still teaching middle school art, working on my art ed master's degree, meaning to learn how to knit, and hadn't even started blogging yet.

That June, my husband and I spent a wonderful few days at Skamania Lodge in the Columbia River Gorge, winding down after a tough school year.  

We hiked, explored the nearby town of Hood River, rode the Mt. Hood Railroad, soaked in the hot tub .... and while in Hood River, I found a great little yarn shop, Knot Another Hat, and bought a few skeins of Malabrigo Silky Merino in Indiecita.  A few days before we'd left home, a new Japanese crochet book arrived and I'd packed it, hoping to get in some crochet time.  And I did!  I whiled away the afternoons on a deck chair overlooking the gorge, sipping on sangria and working on a pineapple stitch scarf.  Heaven!

As all vacations do, that one ended and we returned home.  I ran out of Indiecita for the scarf and by the time I'd located, ordered, and received more, the scarf had been put aside and pretty much forgotten.  The summer of 2009 was also when I started using Ravelry and that scarf was the first project I entered - and was the only project until I decided I needed something to help me keep track of all my knitting and I re-acquainted myself with Ravelry.  Everytime I entered a new project, I'd see that pineapple scarf sitting there on my project page and wonder whatever happened to it.

So .... last weekend I accomplished a task I've wanted to do for a couple of years.  I totally emptied and cleaned out my fabric closet!  And tucked away in a corner, still in its Knot Another Hat bag, I found the almost finished scarf.  This morning I sat down and finished it .... and all the memories and the feel of that summer came flooding back like it was a few months ago, not a few years.  A very nice, time traveling morning and now I have a new pineapple crochet scarf!




About the pattern:  It's from a crochet book that's totally in Japanese (with nice charts) - I've been told the title translates to Crochet Accessories with Cotton and Linen.  I don't know if it's still in print and a quick websearch didn't turn up anything.  I ordered it from Pomadour24's Etsy shop - a good place to get Japanese craft books.

Which brings me to the giveaway.  I was so energized after finishing the fabric closet, I also tackled my yarn cabinet.  I am now vowing to not save all the little leftovers of yarn from finished projects - I think I had about 10 years worth stuffed in there.  There were also many, many skeins of yarn I know I won't use.  I saved the best ones out and the boxful will go to one of you readers!  Just post a comment by March 27th .... you can time travel and tell us about a great vacation, you can post a link to your favorite pineapple crochet pattern, or whatever else you think of!  Just no commercial posts, please.  I'll randomly draw one commenter's name on Saturday, March 28th.  Good luck!  The giveaway is now closed - look for more in the future.

Happy Creating!  Deborah