slow going.

Ok, wow, it's much harder than I thought it would be to choose text for the Epic Poetry Scarf. I may have to can the idea of it being poetry and just go for a basic nice quotation, but . . . poetry somehow goes really well with the concept of a scarf knit out of really soft yarn on size 2 needles, you know? There's something . . . I don't know, lofty and unattainable and really beautiful in the concept of both.

Argh, but since no one seems to be able to find out what my brother's favorite poems are, I'm SO STUCK. I want to start knitting this thing no later than October, too. Scarves are LONG, y'all. Anyway, right now I'm looking at some Shakespeare. I could do this, from Hamlet:

This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.

Which is a nice sentiment, beautiful language, the right length--and also somehow overdone and obvious. There's a longer quote from Hamlet that I really like, this one:

Some say that ever 'gainst that season comes
Wherein our Saviour's birth is celebrated,
This bird of dawning singeth all night long:
And then, they say, no spirit dare stir abroad,
The nights are wholesome, then no planets strike,
No fairy takes, nor witch hath power to charm,
So hallow'd and gracious is that time.

But that's too long, for the size of letter I want to use, etc. I could put it on both sides of the scarf, but I was looking forward to having some semi-plainness on the back side as a rest for my knitting self. I could just do the last four lines, say, but I like the part about the bird of dawning.

I guess my other option would be to find some grey yarn that contrasts better with the olive green, and then I could use smaller letters. Hmm. However, that scares me because I'd rather not do this kind of colorwork with different yarns. Oh, Ultra Alpaca Fine, why must you be so alluringly soft and yet come in so few colors?

Anyway, that's where the scarf stands. If anyone has a brilliant suggestion, feel free to let me know.

Damn, I wish my brother understood German. Part of Schiller's An die Freude would be perfect.

(Oh, and the Seat of the Pants Opera Stole turned out just right. I would have frozen solid without it. I don't think I'm going to take it apart: I think it will be awesome to have a sort of everyday awesome wrap that I can wear and not feel too fancy.)