There is nothing quite like a wonderful wrap. I love shawls and wraps and scarves, but I haven't always knitted them. I tended to find them boring to knit, even with cables or patterns, and I am usually tired of them long before I am finished. Stephen West changed that for me to some extent, and yet although I loved Shawlography, I found it a challenge mostly because my hands and fingers were not working correctly due to chemotherapy induced neuropathy, and my brain wasn't in peak form either due to arrhythmias, which I suspect were aggravated by a complex interaction between chemotherapy and my congenital heart defect.
Part of my goal then, this spring, is to learn how to adapt. Even as my fingers have grown far more functional I am not the knitter I was 10 years ago. Well, none of are what we were 10 years ago.
Presenting the Artyarns wrap:
I absolutely loved knitting this! The stitches are simple and the pattern both complex enough to be interesting and yet also clear enough that one easily gets the hang of it and knows what to expect and how to read your knitting. Only two yarns are used, a multi-colored yarn and a solid, and aside from one stitch on the leading right side edge, only one yarn is knit on each row.
Above is the scarf stretched out on the blocking board last weekend. In order to highlight the design it is important that there the two yarns work well together without any overlapping colors.
This was purchased as a kit from L'Atelier in Redondo Beach, California, in concert with Iris Schreier of Artyarns. You can see a very similar pattern, same design but different gauge, on Ravelry where it is listed as "Neon 2022 rectangle". It appears to be part of a series of limited edition patterns that are available only as kits through participating stores. I am not sure if it was a limited time offering or is still available. .... (updated to add that the pattern is available on Ravelry as part of a compilation of 3 patterns)
The pattern on Ravelry uses a different yarn and is knit at a different gauge. The pattern and kit I received was written and knit using Beaded Silk and Sequins Light, a silk yarn from Artyarns that also has small glass beads and sequins scattered throughout the yarn. The pattern I received was part of a limited edition club; I have had several names for this project on Ravelry, but have finally settled on calling it "blue wave".
I started the project with 400 grams of each yarn, the navy and the blue/green multi yarn, equalling roughly 440 yards each, or 880 yards total. I had 75 grams of the navy blue remaining after completing the sweater and 26 grams of the blue/green/lilac multi-color. Converted to yardage, I used slightly under 356 yards of the navy and 412 yards of the multi-color yarn, for a total of 768 yards.
Because the yarn is 100% silk, the finished scarf is actually quite light and wearable and I suspect I could wear it on all but perhaps the hottest or coldest of days. In fact while I was walking over to the studio to photograph the scarf I was wearing it on a hot humid day and I did not suffer while playing toss with Garbo for a few minutes. This would not have happened with even the lightest woolen scarf, and I adore wool and would knit it exclusively if I could. Well maybe not exclusively. I love this yarn and will certainly be knitting more with it.
I may also knit the pattern again, now that I have it. It would not be difficult to knit a winter version, such as the one shown on Ravelry in Merino Cloud or some other soft wooly yarn. On the other hand, my knitting mojo has been rekindled and there are more things I want to knit that in is physically possible in one lifetime, so that may never happen.
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