Nerves of Steel

I mentioned earlier about being in an email conversation with a designer.  She was giving me advice about making scarves and suggested I try her pattern.  I was actually looking for a double bed pattern, more scarf like, and I had no idea if I had one ply yarn, but why not?  LOL.

This is a large cone I have, bought at Spinrite.  The label says "Spinrite, 2/24, Mic Acr Wl, Khaki/black, Wrk 06707 July 99"  and I'm interpreting it as microfiber acrylic and wool. Not so sure about the "Khaki" as it seems grey to me. The 2/24 is the size of the yarn.  I used Singer card 11, and T2 instead of T3.  It just seemed too loose at T3 and the tuck pattern didn't seem to stand out.  Now that it's done, I probably could have stuck with T3, which most likely would have gotten me the same size as the pattern---mine is 16 1/2" x 59".  I did 1000 rows, which is almost 100 rows more than the pattern, but it's 3 inches shorter.  I would have preferred it to be at least those 3" longer, too!   It's going to end up being a shoulder wrap, not a "toss around and over" stole.  It can also double as a lap blanket.

 I tried ironing my swatch, which wasn't a swatch with this pattern, but the swatch I did when I was playing with the short row lace using various number of passes between each group, before I made the blue/beige shawl which I still need to re-work and is for me, not for this secret project.  Phew.  Run on sentence, anyone?  So, I tried ironing, and I was a little fearful of melting the yarn or flattening the tuck pattern.  I think it's probably okay to flatten the tuck somewhat--you still see it and it's not very textured to begin with--but I absolutely did not want to melt the yarn!  The very edge still has a bit of curl, so I might try again.

I won't lie.  Although it was an easy knit, it was mind-numbing.  B-o-r-yawn-i-n-g.  The most exciting thing?  It's suggested to bring the end needle opposite the carriage to HP before working the row.  So, stopping on each row?  Blah.  I discovered you could stop in the middle of the row, then pull both edge needles to HP, then knit two rows, ending in the middle again.

I really didn't think the tuck was going to show up.  On the knit side, you really don't see much.  Now that it's rested, washed, steamed, pressed, etc, I'm quite pleased at how it shows up.  Subtle.  This yarn, and pattern (but much narrower) would actually make a nice man's dress scarf.  I worried that it would be too manly--this combination of grey and non-lace--but have you ever seen a man wear a stole?  It's a huge cone though, and I think the next one will indeed be a lacey option.  I think grey is a great neutral colour that can be both casual and dressy.

Yarn In:  10 905gr
Yarn Out:  9902gr + 107gr = 10 009gr
Balance:  896gr more In than Out
Costs:  $192.71/120 days = $1.61/day