Journal scarves
Journal scarves are very simple projects. The idea is that each day in the evening you knit a row (or two) in the colour that corresponds to that day. The end result will have a random-like pattern of colours which may be very attractive, but the main reason to do a journal scarf is probably not aesthetic. The idea is that it can be a fun and visual way to remember something meaningful. What I mean is that what ever one decides to register in the scarf, in other words the meaning of each colour, should be of special value to the knitter.
The most common of journal scarves is the mood scarf. This is a very popular project. The idea is that each colour corresponds to the dominant mood of that day. What you should get is a multicoloured scarf with a nice random pattern, but of course that depends on your personal life. The most basic mood scarf will have two colours, one for happy and other for unhappy, but you'll probably want to add a bit more colour to it. Most people choose at least three colours: happy, content and unhappy, but you can use your self-knowledge for more moods than the obvious three.
As said above, mood scarves are just the most common example of journal scarves. You can go along and register all kinds of data in a scarf. Use your imagination. One of the nicest ideas I saw is a sky scarf that registers the dominant colour of the sky daily [Check the video for great instructions of how to knit it, and keep the yarn organized].
Journal scarves are one of the easiest projects you can do, after all you only need to know the knit stitch and to change colour at the beginning of a row. On the other hand, this is an ongoing project which will take quite a long time to finish, it's one row per day after all, so you'll want to have at least one other project going on at the same time.
Before you start, think about what the end result may be. You must choose colours that match well, but that's not all. Try to predict the pattern. For example, don't attempt a sky scarf if the weather is very stable where you live, otherwise you may find you have a dull single coloured scarf. In my country it rains a lot in Winter and not at all in Summer, half blue-half grey scarf anyone? Not very nice. This is the same reason I personally don't like the idea of a mood scarf. I must confess I'm luckily not bipolar, my mood is pretty stable and I think if I attempted a mood scarf it would be the colour I'd choose for content and that is it. And that is boring.
There is a more philosophical reason why I don't like the idea of a mood scarf. Recently there was not one but two research studies that found the extraordinary result that Africa is the happiest continent and Europe the unhappiest. Colombia is the happiest country in the Americas (or the World? I don't remember exactly) and Mexico (by far) the happiest country in North America. The only countries that were unhappier than Greece were Syria and Iraq. Does this makes sense to you? Well the last one kind of does, but still. Can you believe that the Greeks are the third unhappiest people in the world? That crime and violence ridden Colombia the happiest and that we in Europe are all much more unhappy than Africans? The explanation is that these studies simply asked people if they thought they were happy or unhappy, so what they measure is not true happiness but perceived one. I'm not saying that perceived happiness is not the real thing, I mean who wants to be happy and feel unhappy? That doesn't even make sense. But, clearly one must realize that Europeans, North Americans and Canadians are a little deluded in their unhappiness. What the result proves is that once people have all the basic needs in life guaranteed they start being a little too demanding. Someone living in a war country may think they're happy that all of their loved ones are still alive. We in Europe are unhappy because we aren't able to afford the big plasma TV our neighbour owns, or is it the luxury yacht?
What does this have to do with the mood scarf? Well I think that one problem with affluent people is that once we have all the basic needs: food, house, clothes, health and safety, we become obsessed with happiness and what is keeping us away from complete bliss, the things we think we need but don't, like designer clothes and luxury holidays, but also the last fashion in well-being: diets and healthy food, yoga and meditation, etc, etc, etc. I'm not saying that keeping yourself fit and healthy is not a good idea, but I'm saying that obsessing about your mood is. This is why I personally think the idea of a mood scarf is misguided and is also the reason why mood scarves are so popular in our happiness obsessed affluent countries.
So what do I recommend instead? What about a real journal scarf? I started thinking about what makes me happy and I realized that setting myself goals, working hard to achieve them and finally fulfilling them does. That's one of the reason's I like knitting. Knitting projects are just one (very humble) example of this, being a good professional, being good at my job is the main one. On the other hand all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy and I also am very happy when I hike, go for a run in the park, paint some watercolour (I'm horrible at it but I enjoy the process if not the end result), play piano (idem), read a good book, go to a good art exhibition... the list is very long.
As my list of 'things I like to do' is very long, I classed them. This means that some colours in my journal scarf are for one specific activity, others for a class of activities. Each day I knit a row of what I did that day. If you choose wisely you'll get a nice scarf no matter how dull and routine-like you think your life is. If you really find that most days you do nothing special, that is not so bad because a scarf with a dominant background and occasional strikes of other colours will look really good.
The idea is that your scarf will be a journal, but it may also give you the motivation to do more of the things you like. If you have not knitted blue in a while, you will be reminded to go along and do some 'blue' for a change.
In this line of thought, a journal scarf can also be a valuable aid to change habits. Suppose you want to quit smoking, then go along and stop smoking, that is the only way to do it. Now suppose instead that you want to reduce the amount of chocolate (or other snacks) you eat. Not stop it completely, just reduce it. Then you can do a scarf that registers the days you ate chocolate or not, or choose different colours for different amounts. After a few weeks of knitting your snack scarf, there is no way you can go on fooling yourself about the amount you're eating.
Another idea is an exercise scarf. If you have a set schedule, say you take classes at your gym with a regular timetable, then forget about it. But if, like me, you're very informal about how much you exercise, then a scarf can be a very good way to keep track of what you're doing. For example, choose a colour for when you walk or bike to work instead of taking the car or bus, another for when you go jogging and another for when you go to the gym. If you go dancing or hiking over the weekend, that's a couple more colours. No exercise is the background colour unless you're truly a very active person.
Because a colourful scarf is such a striking visual object, I find it amazingly effective at keeping track of what I'm doing and forcing myself to change my habits for the better. Also, because it forces me to think about it every single day, it keeps me disciplined.
The most common of journal scarves is the mood scarf. This is a very popular project. The idea is that each colour corresponds to the dominant mood of that day. What you should get is a multicoloured scarf with a nice random pattern, but of course that depends on your personal life. The most basic mood scarf will have two colours, one for happy and other for unhappy, but you'll probably want to add a bit more colour to it. Most people choose at least three colours: happy, content and unhappy, but you can use your self-knowledge for more moods than the obvious three.
As said above, mood scarves are just the most common example of journal scarves. You can go along and register all kinds of data in a scarf. Use your imagination. One of the nicest ideas I saw is a sky scarf that registers the dominant colour of the sky daily [Check the video for great instructions of how to knit it, and keep the yarn organized].
Journal scarves are one of the easiest projects you can do, after all you only need to know the knit stitch and to change colour at the beginning of a row. On the other hand, this is an ongoing project which will take quite a long time to finish, it's one row per day after all, so you'll want to have at least one other project going on at the same time.
Before you start, think about what the end result may be. You must choose colours that match well, but that's not all. Try to predict the pattern. For example, don't attempt a sky scarf if the weather is very stable where you live, otherwise you may find you have a dull single coloured scarf. In my country it rains a lot in Winter and not at all in Summer, half blue-half grey scarf anyone? Not very nice. This is the same reason I personally don't like the idea of a mood scarf. I must confess I'm luckily not bipolar, my mood is pretty stable and I think if I attempted a mood scarf it would be the colour I'd choose for content and that is it. And that is boring.
There is a more philosophical reason why I don't like the idea of a mood scarf. Recently there was not one but two research studies that found the extraordinary result that Africa is the happiest continent and Europe the unhappiest. Colombia is the happiest country in the Americas (or the World? I don't remember exactly) and Mexico (by far) the happiest country in North America. The only countries that were unhappier than Greece were Syria and Iraq. Does this makes sense to you? Well the last one kind of does, but still. Can you believe that the Greeks are the third unhappiest people in the world? That crime and violence ridden Colombia the happiest and that we in Europe are all much more unhappy than Africans? The explanation is that these studies simply asked people if they thought they were happy or unhappy, so what they measure is not true happiness but perceived one. I'm not saying that perceived happiness is not the real thing, I mean who wants to be happy and feel unhappy? That doesn't even make sense. But, clearly one must realize that Europeans, North Americans and Canadians are a little deluded in their unhappiness. What the result proves is that once people have all the basic needs in life guaranteed they start being a little too demanding. Someone living in a war country may think they're happy that all of their loved ones are still alive. We in Europe are unhappy because we aren't able to afford the big plasma TV our neighbour owns, or is it the luxury yacht?
What does this have to do with the mood scarf? Well I think that one problem with affluent people is that once we have all the basic needs: food, house, clothes, health and safety, we become obsessed with happiness and what is keeping us away from complete bliss, the things we think we need but don't, like designer clothes and luxury holidays, but also the last fashion in well-being: diets and healthy food, yoga and meditation, etc, etc, etc. I'm not saying that keeping yourself fit and healthy is not a good idea, but I'm saying that obsessing about your mood is. This is why I personally think the idea of a mood scarf is misguided and is also the reason why mood scarves are so popular in our happiness obsessed affluent countries.
So what do I recommend instead? What about a real journal scarf? I started thinking about what makes me happy and I realized that setting myself goals, working hard to achieve them and finally fulfilling them does. That's one of the reason's I like knitting. Knitting projects are just one (very humble) example of this, being a good professional, being good at my job is the main one. On the other hand all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy and I also am very happy when I hike, go for a run in the park, paint some watercolour (I'm horrible at it but I enjoy the process if not the end result), play piano (idem), read a good book, go to a good art exhibition... the list is very long.
As my list of 'things I like to do' is very long, I classed them. This means that some colours in my journal scarf are for one specific activity, others for a class of activities. Each day I knit a row of what I did that day. If you choose wisely you'll get a nice scarf no matter how dull and routine-like you think your life is. If you really find that most days you do nothing special, that is not so bad because a scarf with a dominant background and occasional strikes of other colours will look really good.
The idea is that your scarf will be a journal, but it may also give you the motivation to do more of the things you like. If you have not knitted blue in a while, you will be reminded to go along and do some 'blue' for a change.
In this line of thought, a journal scarf can also be a valuable aid to change habits. Suppose you want to quit smoking, then go along and stop smoking, that is the only way to do it. Now suppose instead that you want to reduce the amount of chocolate (or other snacks) you eat. Not stop it completely, just reduce it. Then you can do a scarf that registers the days you ate chocolate or not, or choose different colours for different amounts. After a few weeks of knitting your snack scarf, there is no way you can go on fooling yourself about the amount you're eating.
Another idea is an exercise scarf. If you have a set schedule, say you take classes at your gym with a regular timetable, then forget about it. But if, like me, you're very informal about how much you exercise, then a scarf can be a very good way to keep track of what you're doing. For example, choose a colour for when you walk or bike to work instead of taking the car or bus, another for when you go jogging and another for when you go to the gym. If you go dancing or hiking over the weekend, that's a couple more colours. No exercise is the background colour unless you're truly a very active person.
Because a colourful scarf is such a striking visual object, I find it amazingly effective at keeping track of what I'm doing and forcing myself to change my habits for the better. Also, because it forces me to think about it every single day, it keeps me disciplined.
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