Frosting

I bought this luscious yarn at Knitters’ Day Out back in September, and I’ve left it sitting out because I wanted to knit with it sooner rather than later. This week, I got the urge.

This is a 3-ply yarn in a heavy worsted/aran weight. The fiber content is 60% alpaca / 20% merino / 20% honey silk, and it’s from Rusty Rocks Farm in nearby Dover, PA. It’s a beautiful charcoal gray (darker than the photo above makes it look) with flecks of silver throughout.

This yarn is very soft, and I knew I wanted to make something to go around my neck. I had 300 yards and I wanted to use it all. After looking at a number of patterns, I settled on Frosting – a free cowl / loop scarf pattern that is mostly stockinette, with a few cable twists thrown in.Part of why I picked this pattern is that it isn’t knit in the round – it begins with 38 st provisionally cast on and is grafted at the end. I thought this would allow me to use as much of the yarn as possible. And it worked! I was left with only 50” of yarn after grafting and weaving in ends.

My provisional CO worked much better this time than it did with my recent hat. First, I used a larger crochet hook and kept the crochet chain loose. Second, I made sure that the first row was stockinette. I actually recommend working more than 2 rows in st st before starting the cable twists (try, say, 4). Because the fabric is mostly stockinette, it wants to roll – but this works to hide the WS of the fabric. It almost looks like a tube. Here, I’ve weighed down part of the scarf so you can see how wide it is flat, before it rolls: This was a super quick and satisfying project.

Next up, some boys have been clamoring for new slippers. No problem – I can make those out of stash!