This was knit up in the fall, so still pretty recent, compared to a few of these others! I wanted a quick and relatively mindless project as I was going through my Netflix queue, waiting to start my new job.** This one was waiting in my Ravelry queue, and it just seemed like the time to do it. Yes, I do realize that it'll probably be in my cedar chest for a while until we get somewhere with enough winter to be able to wear heavy wool again. But living in Hawaii isn't going to stop me from knitting, sorry!
A thick-and-thin yarn, which Plymouth has unfortunately discontinued. I seem to find those a lot - yarns I like and have no issues with, but that have been discontinued (possibly as trends and fads change, making way for new textures or materials or colors). Part of shopping sale bins, I suppose! Still good finds, great for one-skein projects, and of course more affordable - just disappointing when you find you can't work with the yarn again.
This one is nice and soft and doesn't split. It's a single-ply yarn, though, so you can inadvertently stick your needle through the yarn itself; something to be careful about. Like when using most thick and thin yarns, it's best to use a simpler pattern. The texture on thick and thin yarns tends to overwhelm more intricate patterns (or, alternately, the texture of the yarn is lost, and you might as well have used a smoother, less 'fancy' yarn).
The Pattern
That's One Sexy Librarian! Neckwrap by Brian Atkinson at An Excellent Source of Fiber.
Yes, I totally made this one for the name! I've graduated, have my degree, and will actually be working IN my field in a few weeks time (something to celebrate for any military spouse!). So, like with quirky race names (here's to you, Santa Shuffle), the name was a factor in my decision :) I don't know the story behind his naming of the pattern, but I like it.
The neckwrap's a pretty quick knit, mostly garter stitch, with the loopy X's for something of interest. It's a great pattern for yarns that you want to show off, ones with some character or texture, but that you don't necessarily have a lot of. I used the thick and thin yarn, while other Ravelry users knit with tweeds or homespun yarns.
It's truly a neckwrap - or a scarflette, if you prefer. It's a great one-skein project, but one-skein projects don't make for very long scarves. So, this one's a nice cozy tuck-around scarf, rather than one that you loop around multiple times. With the soft wool yarn, though, it's still nice and cozy.
Thoughts, Notes, Alterations, etc.
The only real change I made was in needle size. I started on US 8, as the pattern called for, but with this yarn, that gauge was making a very tight piece. So, I went up needle sizes to US 10. This created a little bit softer fabric, a little bit more drape, and you can see the thick-and-thin of the yarn more than on the 8s.
I didn't count my rows, the way the pattern called for. But, using a different yarn than the original pattern, I had slightly different yardage in my skein. To make the scarflette balanced (with mirror image ends), and still use as much yarn as possible from the skein, I pulled out my kitchen/postage scale and weighed my skein repeatedly as I worked along. Then, with a bit of math, I could figure out when I needed to start the X's on the second half of the scarf. Yeah, I'm that knitter :)
**This project was finished back in October, while I was indeed celebrating a new job. All hired and signed and everything, but had extra time before actually starting to work. I had to wait extra time for my background check paperwork to clear, since there was a software upgrade at my new workplace right as I was being hired. So, new job, plus still Netflix & Knitting time - trying to finish up some series I'd started while my toe was healing after the move!
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