Skinny Scarf #2

A scarf for Linda, for helping.

Pattern: Scarf#2, Three Skinny Scarves

Designer: St. Seraphina Knits

Yarn: Katia Azteca, color 7803 (50% wool, 50% acrylic), 197 yd/skein

Needles: Size 10 Bryspun circulars

Size after blocking: 6" by 62"

Notes: a great pattern, what Vicki Square, author of Knit Kimono, calls "coma knitting." Four rows, with rows 1 and 4 all knit, row 2 almost all purl, and row 3 a very easy lace repeat. Quick and easy to knit. And I'm becoming a fan of Bryspun needles. I knit loosely and am usually struggling to get the correct gauge without going down to a needle so small that it will take me eons to finish the project. The Bryspun has just enough resistance to slow me down and tighten up my stitches, but feels better - in terms of being more flexible as well as smoother - than a bamboo circular. And there's no joint between the needle tip and the wire for the yarn to get caught on, so that I can knit with a better rhythmn and enhanced mindlessness.

What I would do differently Next Time: perhaps buy less expensive yarn. One skein of the Azteca cost $16.80, and it worked up and felt almost identical to Patons SWS from Michael's, which runs about $6 for 110 yds. On the other hand, what you get with the more high-end yarn is color selection, and the Azteca perfectly suited my need for a yarn that would match a dark green coat with a black lining. The problem with the discount yarns, for me, is the choice of either neon or pastel shades, with not much in the way of sophisticated colorways.