Every now and then, some of us need a quiet moment in front of a great work of art. An uninterrupted afternoon with a timeless piece of literature. An evening of heart-stirring music. A cream-filled éclair. A brush with something special gives us the feeling that we, too, are special. Could I interest you in a ruffle?

When I was pregnant with my middle daughter Flory, I knit her a baby blanket in soft pinks and blues and greens. When it was finished, it seemed unadorned and plain, too inadequate to express the depth of the maternal love I felt for my baby-to-be. So I added a ruffle.

Adding a ruffle meant increasing two stitches for every one along the edges of the blanket. It soon felt as if there were a million stitches weighing heavily on my needles. There probably were. But still not enough stitches to give the ruffle its proper wave. Another row of increases, again knitting in back and in front of every stitch, knitting carefully and slowly, in fear that if I dropped one tiny, baby stitch out of the vast multitude of stitches, I might just have to rip them all out and start again. What we do for love.

Baby Flory’s face is too tiny to admire in that first photo of me holding her swaddled in the blanket that I knit, but the ruffle stands out draped over my arm in true ruffle glory. It was a serious knitting commitment of stitches and yarn, a statement. Here in this wooly bundle rests a baby who is loved.

Flory’s blanket made me into a ruffle fan. When Lion Brand^® introduced Ruffles yarn this fall, I knew I had to give this yarn that makes a ruffle for you a try. I couldn’t wait for my samples to arrive, and when they did, I was in awe. Ruffles is a tape yarn, a soft merino blend, with a delicate ruffle drape and almost lighter-than-air weight. Like fairy wings or gossamer lace. Without having to add a million stitches, Ruffles could spell love into a garter stitch scarf. What would I make with it?

Pella, Iowa provided the inspiration. I was there with my friend Monica Leo, of Eulenspigel Puppet Theatre, to celebrate a show of her work at Central College. We were browsing around downtown Pella, which boasts both a windmill and canal, when I spied it in the window of a woman’s clothing store. A silk scarf edged with a delicate ruffle. It was, in the words of my late mother, “smart.”

I probably haven’t owned a piece of clothing with a ruffle since I outgrew my last party dress sometime in the early 60’s, and I’m not a “scarf” person, but I knew that I’d wear a scarf like the one displayed in the window. And I knew exactly how I’d knit it. Better. Warmer. And with Ruffles yarn, in the same color combination, gray and black.

So here’s my November gift to you, a pattern to knit a scarf and matching wristers in warm Lion® Cashmere Blend, with a special edge of Ruffles. No extra stitches required. Make them as a gift for someone you love. Maybe for yourself. It’s time. Put some ruffles into your life.