The Clincher Bandana Scarf from Ewe-Nique Yarns - Done!

I made it!

Seriously, there was a nothing more than a grape-sized ball of yarn left over, but I made it to the end of the loop trim. And yes, the black does indeed work with the other colors.  

I expect there are about a dozen ways to wear this bandana scarf, and I plan to have fun exploring them.

Ewe-Nique Yarns, thanks for an interesting yarn adventure and one of the most unique scarfs I've knit on this blog.

Next up, DestiKNITions visits San Antonio Texas!

The Clincher Bandana Scarf from Ewe-Nique Yarns - Day 5

Getting loopy...

I made it!  I’ve started the fascinating I-cord loop trim that makes up the distinctive end of this scarf.

I wasn’t sure I’d like the charcoal trim on this multi-colored scarf, but I do think it works.  And when you factor in the huge amount of black and grey in my wardrobe, it’s useful.  

So color?  check.  Technique?  Eh, not so much.

This is one time I wish I had the opportunity to look over someone’s shoulder.  The directions are explicit, but like entrelac or turning your first sock heel, you’re prone to read them and go “Huh?  Wait, that cant work.”

The trick for me was making sure I did the final “knit 4” after the loop section of the I-cord.  Otherwise, you are not at the right spot to pick up the wrapped stitch and bind off where you need to for the inner loop edge.  Undoing complicated stitch-work in dark wool is always traumatic, and I confess to several nasty words while doing it the second time.  By the third attempt, I nailed it, and did a little victory dance around my couch. No, there isn’t a video.  Allow me my dignity.

I made it through the first of the dozen or so loops required.

Only now I’m stressed.  I can’t imagine how the tiny ball of yarn I have (25 yards) will make it across all the loops I need.  It looks like it can’t possibly be enough, and any restocking I’ll need will have to come all the way from Peoria.  Such is the risk of out-of-town knitting.  It’s not as if this is a problem Amazon Prime can solve, you know?

Nothing like a little creative “will I make it?” tension to give a clever project a nail-biter of a finale.  Stay tuned—anything could happen.

The Clincher Bandana Scarf from Ewe-Nique Yarns - Day 4

Pressing matters...

The color is pretty, but the rows are long.

The yarn has that marvelous wooly elasticity, but the rows are long.

The loopy closure looks really interesting, but I’ve got long rows to finish before I get there.

Do you sense a theme?

I think if it were all garter stitch, I wouldn’t be so grumpy.  But half the rows are purling, and purling just seems to go soooooo slow for me.  I can’t continental purl. Well, I can, but then after a few minutes my fingers cramp.  For a long row, that means I’m stuck with American style.  The fact that I can knit continental style—which is faster—just makes the purl rows feel that much more like slogging through molasses.

I’m determined to finish out the rest of my ball of Prairie Spun today so that tomorrow I can begin tackling those fascinating loopy closures.  It’s a rainy, chilly day in Chicago—the exact opposite of my last post—so it’s a good day to hunker down and knit.  

If only I didn’t have writing to do, errands to run, and this guy I married who has a right to expect some interaction (and some dinner made) from his spouse.  I’m writing the climax of my book, which is always rather exhausting (yes, writers get caught up in their work), so I want to run away and hide in my knitting.

So, today is going to be about pressing on.  In my writing.  In waiting for Spring take up permanent residence in Chicago instead of just swooping in for a day or two and then handing the keys back to Winter.  In finishing these ever-elongating rows of knit and purl.

Onward.

The Clincher Bandana Scarf from Ewe-Nique Yarns - Day 2

Colorplay...

The colors.

I can’t get over the colors.  In honesty, I wasn't too thrilled about the green at the beginning.  It felt way too close to the color of my Brassica shawl to be exciting.  Oh, but when it started to change—wow! The photo doesn't do it justice, trust me.  I kept stopping knitting just to stare at it.  If all the color changes I can see in the cake are as luscious as the ones I’ve seen so far, this is going to be one gorgeous shawl.  Between these and the clever i-cord trim, I bet this is going to be one that gets people stopping me on the street (I love that).

This week has been a travel week for me, and my knitting is always close to my heart (literally and figuratively) when I travel.  Nothing else ever softens the blows of travel—airport lines, long flights, endless waits or delays, all that standing around—like knitting.  It never fails to start up a conversation when I take out my knitting.  Either a fellow knitter wants to “talk shop,” or someone tells me a story about their grandmother or aunt or mom who knit them something.  It makes connections.  Even before I began deliberately seeking out yarn shops for DestiKNITions, I have always treasured the way knitting connects perfect strangers.  

Round two of travel starts tomorrow, so I’ll have more treasures in store—and hopefully more breathtaking color changes.

The Clincher Bandana Scarf from Ewe-Nique Yarns - Day 1

The point of it all...

There’s something so artistic about a cake of hand-died yarn. I find both peace and motivation in the concentric circles of color.  I get to see what’s coming next—something that doesn’t happen often enough in my life—and that helps me to press onward.  "Just a few more rows until the purple shows up."  The dynamic simply makes me happy.

This scarf is a vertically knit triangle of ribbed rows.  And yes, we are starting at the narrow, "pointy" end.  And yes, that means the rows get longer.  I guess this challenge continues to surround me. 

Designer Ash Kearns adds a grand finale, however, in a happy loopy trim of i-cord that looks so ingenious I can’t wait to get to stitching it.

Quality wools are always a pleasure to knit; the loft, the elasticity, the way they sop up color.  This Prairie Spun Journey skein runs from green to purple to gray to blue and back again in a palette that reminds me of the Blue Ridge Mountains.  It is the color way designed for the 2015 Knitting Pipeline retreat—and it’s a beauty.

The simple four-row repeat was quickly memorized, making this excellent television and conference knitting.  I’ll be heading to Las Vegas in a few days for the RT Convention, so it’s an ideal project—beautiful but not too demanding at this stage.  Ewe-Nique Yarns has made me one delighted knitter!