Claude Monet was obsessed with light and its effect on color. He’s probably best known for his waterlilies paintings where he painted scenes from the garden of his home in Giverny at different times of day. But I think his most revealing work is the haystacks series. It really shows his appreciation for light and color, painting the same object several times but always in different colors to reflect the changes in the light.

My finished object today isn’t terribly impressive. It’s just a scarf and headband set. But there are a few things about it that make it more than a plain old scarf set.

Firstly there’s the yarn. This is my first time using Manos de Uruguay and you can bet your butt it won’t be the last. This stuff is soft and thick and warm. The colors vary from inch to inch (and skein to skein) and make a gorgeous robust knit. The fact that it’s produced by a collective of women in South America who are earning their own living makes it even more special.

Then there’s the stitch pattern. This is not an easy stitch, basically you’re doing a decrease but slipping an extra stitch in there every time. I cast this on maybe about two months ago and it’s taken me a while to finish because the progress seemed very slow. But in the end it makes a beautiful crosshatch that’s particularly nice with the variegated yarn and produces a nice, thick scarf.

And there’s how much the colors change with the variations in light.

I didn’t have enough yarn leftover from the scarf to make a hat but I wanted to make something with it so I made a headband / earwarmer. It’s not all that wide really but is thick enough to really keep the ears warm on a cold day. I was worried that it might stretch out or be too small so I made a series of eyelets and sewed on some small wooden beads I got at the infamous estate sale to make it easy to resize. It could make a good small neckwarmer too.

Winter also makes a very patient model and photography assistant.

No modeling today though she’s a bit stinky and needs a bath.