Football, Shmootball…

I don’t think I will ever understand the game of football. Other than the really important plays, like running the field, kicking a goal, or scoring a touchdown, the rest is just confusing noise. My apathy for the game has always bothered my husband (as someone who takes every-single-play very personally). Imagine his delight when I began my most recent major knitting project – Michelle Hunter’s Scoreboard Scarf.

Participating in this nationwide “knit along” meant that I had to stay on top of the weekly scores for my team, which also meant multiple conversations about football – or “teaching” moments – with my husband. Seriously. He was giddy.

The idea behind this scarf was just plain fun – for every point that your team scored, you knit a row in one spirit color. For every point the opposing team scored, you knit a row in a contrasting spirit color. For example:

1 touchdown + good kick = 7 rows
1 field goal  = 3 rows
1 kick-their-butts-no-one-else-even-came-close-to-scoring game = 52 rows

I divided each game with a row of purling and alternated between black and gray for the opposing teams to break up the Halloween vibe.

By the end of the season, you have a wearable document of the scoring plays.

I knew I had to make this for my best friend, Kellie, for Christmas. We both bleed orange and black for our Mercer Bears, but she’s the one dedicated to sitting through cruddy weather to cheer them on. Not me. I’ve had my lifetime’s share of bad weather in the past 3 years. Reserve for me a permanent seat in a warm, dry environment.

So, I started this scarf at the beginning of football season and wrapped it up at the 11th hour, just before Christmas. There was A LOT of knitting, knitting, knitting… and with game scores of 52-0, there was a lot of monotonous knitting.

Look at all of that orange! Go Bears!!

I’m so pleased with the outcome (not so much with these pictures), but I’m not anxious to do this again for a long time. In the words of Squints from “The Sandlot,” this project took…