The Santa Fe Turquoise Trail Scarf: A Finished Object I Love Too Much

Friends, I’m in a dilemma. It’s a dilemma that is literally keeping me up at night, filling me with doubt, and making me wonder if, deep down, I’m truly a terrible person. My problem? I have a finished object meant as a gift . . . and I don’t want to part with it. As soon as I finished my Santa Fe Turquoise Trail Scarf, I knew I was in trouble.

I infused a lot of love into this scarf, carefully following lace charts, learning a new grafting technique, and stitching countless repeats. Despite the hard work, I really loved working this pattern, with its satisfying geometric shapes, neat zig-zag edging, and clever short rows.

The problem is, I seem to have poured a little too much love into this scarf. I love it a lot and I want to keep it and cuddle it and stroke it and wear it every day.

This scarf was originally destined to be a gift, and not for just anyone. I intended this scarf to be a present for my mother, a woman who is so wonderful, kind, and caring that she still makes me and my roommates dinner once a week and lets me take leftovers home. Oh yeah, and she gave life to my very being, or whatever . . . that too.

When I’m planning to give a project as a gift, I sometimes like to work on it once or twice in front of the person it’s intended for, just to make sure they really seem to like it. When I brought out the half-finished Santa Fe Turquoise Trail Scarf in front of my mom, she of course exclaimed over the beautiful color, the gorgeous lace, and the overall awesome-ness that is Mara Bishop Statnekov’s design. So I can’t even pretend I don’t think she’d truly appreciate it.

I’m really in a pickle, here. On the one hand, I feel beholden unto the original destiny of the scarf. It knows it’s supposed to be hers, and so does the universe. Maybe if I selfishly keep it, something horrible will happen to it and serve me right.

But, on the other hand, I feel like if you love a piece of knitwear as much as I love this darn scarf, it’s irresponsible to give it away. Maybe the universe wants me to have it, and we’ll have all sorts of wonderful adventures together and it will make all of my outfits so much cooler.

Please let me know in the comments: what the heck should I do? Has this ever happened to you? How did you handle the situation? I’m badly in need of help, here.

Yours in Stitches,
—Andrea

Buyer Beware: You Won’t Be Able to Give This Scarf Away!