My friend Jennie is pretty amazing. I have known her since my freshman year of college. We were in a small advisory group together at Johns Hopkins. Both of us were there to study creative writing. She was young and I was even younger. I was totally in awe of how smart and put together Jennie was. At 16 when I started, college was overwhelming for me. I wasn’t entirely prepared for the academic rigors of Hopkins, let alone living alone in Baltimore. Jennie was both a great friend and a role model.
Over the years we’ve had many adventures. We founded a comedy improve troupe together, and went backpacking in Europe. Jennie also introduced me to my husband, when he was cast in our “Throat Culture” troupe during our Jr Year. She was the maid of honor at my wedding.
We wandered apart for several years, but somehow, time and social media wove our stories back together again and I’m so happy that I have a good, lifelong friend like Jennie in my life. She’s really one of the smartest and most amazing (and kind) women I know.
For the past year or so I’ve been doing a lot of what I call “Stress Knitting.” It seems the only way I can watch television and relax/unwind is if I have a pair of needles in my hands. I knit during conference calls and on long car trips too. It calms me. My mother refers to me as Madame Defarge and laughs at my many scarves and hats that result from this. Living in Southern California I don’t um… need twenty scarves. So this year I’ve been giving hats and scarves away, mostly to the women in my life who have been great pals and supporters and to anyone who needs or deserves a lift. It makes me happy to knit bomb my friends!
Sometimes I know who I’m knitting for, and other times I don’t. I generally pick my yarns shortly before tuning into whatever I’m about to watch on Masterpiece Theater and go from there. 
I threw together three yarns from Lion Brand to create this one. Yarn #1 was Pelt in Mink, which I’d requested a sample of this winter. It’s very fuzzy and furry and makes for a luxurious finish. Yarn #2 was Alpaca Blend from the Martha Stewart Crafts Collection. It’s discontinued now, but I had a couple of balls left over from a sweater I knit a few years ago. Yarn #3 was Amazing, which was the word that was playing in my mind when I realized that this scarf just had to be for Jennie. It was fortuitous that the ombre jewel tones in the yarn matched her wintercoat pretty perfectly. Destiny!
I cast on 17 stitches on #50 needles to make this scarf and held the Pelt and the Amazing yarns doubled. I knit in a simple Garter stitch till I felt done and then joined the ends with a single twist. The scarf has such a nice drape and really felt luxurious – easy to dress up or down.
Best of all I think Jennie liked it!
Wonder who will be my next victim 😉 ? 
A lovely piece about friendship, caring, and a journey through life! It’s wonderful how our relationships ebb and flow over time but remains woven together through time. You could join a group of people who have been knitting scarves, hats, mittens and more for children, women and families in need. They are distributed to the patients at The Floating Hospital in NYC.