Isn’t it amazing the difference the right yarn can make?

When I was knitting Mum’s scarf prior to Christmas, the yarn I ultimately knit it out of was a beautiful, green baby alpaca. It was so soft, and every time I picked it up, I immediately wanted to snuggle into my project. It helped me bond with the project, which was good, because we spent several late nights together. The same thing when I knit a hat for a friend last winter out of Blue Sky alpaca/merino.

This week, I’m working on a charity knitting project for Food and Friends, a D.C. organization that makes sure people with HIV and cancer and other serious and potentially fatal diseases get nutritious food to eat. Every year at Valentine’s Day, they also deliver hand-knitted items to each of their clients, who number around 1,200. This year the woman organizing the drive is desperately behind her target number, particularly for male clients, so I went stash-diving and set to work.

The yarn I’m using is a hand-me-down from my friend Cynthia, who sent me yarn one spring after her basement (where she stored her yarn stash) flooded. After she dried it all out, she filled up two boxes with yarns that she could part with and mailed them to me, a newbie knitter.

This yarn is not cheap. It’s Noro Lily, which is a cotton-silk blend, so it has nice drape and flows smoothly over my needles.

But I hate the colors. It’s the Multi colorway, which combines black, several shades of brown and gray, a silvery-blue, and fluorescent green. Yes, it makes a nice pattern (both skeins match, which I understand can be unusual with some Noro yarns). But still… Luckily, Rudi likes the colors, so I’m hopeful that a male client of Food and Friends will, too.

I just have no interest in knitting this scarf. I desperately want to be knitting something — anything — else. And I feel bad. Because I sort of feel like when one is doing charity knitting that one ought to be infusing each stitch (or, at least, most stitches, when your pattern, needles, and yarn are playing nicely together) with thoughts of love and healing for its intended recipient. And here I am thinking, “When is this skein going to end?” and “I can’t wait to be done with this stupid thing!”

Here’s hoping that’s not what I’m infusing into this scarf….