Not Noro Scarf: Knitting on the Road

Whenever it was my time to be the passenger on our road trip, and if there was enough light to see (it doesn't take much), I'd be knitting.

For four years I had wanted to knit the spectacular Jared Flood pattern, the Noro Scarf, and I was always too busy making things for my shop. The road trip was the perfect time to knit this simple design. It could easily be dropped in my lap at a moment's notice in order to grab a camera because of a buffalo sighting. It could just as easily be picked right back up without missing a stitch.

The only problem . . . as beautiful as Noro's colors are, the fiber is too scratchy for the skin on my neck. Yes, even Silk Garden.

Luckily there are other yarns on the market that have long color repeats, and I found a very interesting and sensitive-skin friendly one: Universal Yarn's, Classic Shades. It's 70% acrylic and 30% washable wool. My swatch had been washed by machine and lightly dried in a low heat setting in the drier. It didn't shrink a bit, and its halo had become even more beautiful.

For this scarf I used the Watermelon and the Reef color-ways.

Beside the fiber content, there is another change I made to this pattern. It was knit with each stitch twisted. All the knits and all the purls were worked through the back loop. 

Jared Flood says he likes the unblocked look of 1x1 ribbing which his pattern uses because it resembles stockinette. My preference is to see the ribbing in high relief, and I have a special love for twisted stitches because of the plaited look they create. Here's a close up:

Only one skein each in two different color-ways of this yarn make this timeless design a wallet-friendly project.

(Please don't think that I am disparaging Noro. I love their products and can knit with them, but I just can't wear them next to my neck.)

While in the beginning stages of this scarf, we passed through Missoula, Montana where there is a lovely yarn shop called Loopy knit/crochet. They have a wonderful selection of gourmet yarns arranged by weight and a very friendly staff.  While there, I purchased this book because of the marvelous tea cosy design in it.

See: Noro Love!