Quick Knit

 This was one of those projects that seemed like it was taking forever, and then suddenly, it's done. 

I was browsing in my yarn store (what my family calls my stash) and found this ball of soft yarn.  I thought the colours would look nice with my two new winter coats--one bright pink, one dark wine. I used to have a lot of winter accessories in wine/plum/marron, but they're quite worn, or even no longer in my bin (even though I still have the coat they were made for). 

I knew from the roving style, and a quick Ravelry search, that the yarn needed a stitch pattern with some structure, to help it keep from pilling. My first thought was a nice squishy Brioche scarf. Brioche takes more yarn than regular ribbing though, and I wasn't sure the one ball was going to be enough. I did find a mobius neck warmer in the projects that were done with the yarn. It linked to a Purl Soho pattern for a Fisherman's Rib scarf. The woman had given it a twist before sewing the ends together. She says she used one ball, and cast on 21 sts. 

So that's what I did.

It seemed to go so slow. Not very long rows, but for a thick yarn, the length sure didn't grow very fast.

And then, all of a sudden, I was nearly at the end of the ball, and it was not long enough to wrap twice around me snugly (I didn't want long and drape-y; I wanted it close fitting). I found this ball of Lopi in my "store". The colour worked. It is 100% wool, and a bit scratchy, and will felt if washed/dry wrong, but the main yarn said handwash too.  I ripped back a ways, then did chunky stripes where I used one yarn for one row, slide the stitches back, used the other yarn for the next row (but having to purl in the stitch below rather than knit in the stitch below). It was turning out one colour on one side and the other colour on the other side. Then I accidentally switched for two stripes. Then I went back to thick sections with one colour on each side.

I did manage to figure out one row stripes (the green and wine section)

I figure once it's wrapped around my neck twice, it all gets mixed together

I did end up having to do a bit at the end with just the Lopi. Then I gave it one twist, and grafted the start to the end (I had done a provisional cast on). I didn't do a great job; one side it blends in, the other side has a ridge.

You can see the two rows of Lopi  here, but over all I think it blends fine.

It works well with my coat. I can wrap it twice, and pull it over my nose, or I can loop it once and it lays pretty flat inside my coat. 

Yarn In:  0gr

Yarn Out:  156gr + 600gr = 756gr

Balance:  756gr more OUT than in

Cost:  $0, $0/day