Shaky Start on the Winter Scarf

While on my last trip to the U.S., I picked up these wonderful yarns from a little shop in Escondido, California called Black Sheep Yarn. They have an amazing collection of specialty yarns, felting supplies and unique fibers, as well as all the regular yarns we know and love, plus the entire collection of Jacquard acid dyes (which are awesome for dyeing yarn).

The idea I had was to knit these three yarns together into a gorgeous winter scarf. And if I had enough left over, a hat to match.

Funny thing about this is that I have to knit this project with latex gloves on. Yep, that's right. I have some dry patches on my hands that don't seem to improve much even with lotion, and the tiny dry parts of the skin 'catch' and stick to the yarn. Very annoying indeed. So I found that knitting with gloves on solves that problem...and it doesn't molest the yarn too much.

So, the first time I cast on, I got about 4-5 rows into it and decided it was too wide, so I ripped it out and started again with less stitches.

As I was knitting, I have to say I'm completely enthralled by this ribbon yarn. It's from Italy, but distributed by Trendsetter Yarns. It's called 'Segue.' It has all these wonderful colors that suit me to a tee...dusky rose, shimmering cream, browny-gold, light and dark greys, and the palest of lavender. I imagined throwing out all my clothes and having an entire wardrobe made of just these colors. What a vision!

The thicker cream colored yarn is Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk Aran, an incredibly soft blend which I thought would add warmth to the scarf. And the other thinner one is this really cool yarn from Berroco called Bonsai, a bamboo and nylon mix and adds just a further dimension of subtle sparkle.

The second time I cast on, I liked the width and the way it looked, but after knitting about 5-6 inches, I realized the edges of the scarf are rolling, as is normal for stockinette stitch, but I thought (fantasized) with the three yarns knitted together, it might decide it would lie flat. Wrong. It wants to roll in. I don't want it to. So now I have to think of a stitch that will lie flat...or knit this in the round and flatten the ends for the scarf. Only problem is, I don't have double-pointed needles this big. So I'd have to go and buy those and who knows if I could find them here. And the scarf would be twice as heavy if I did it in the round. It's already dense and heavy enough with all the yarn in it.

So, today I'll research a stitch, such as moss stitch, that I know will lie flat like a scarf should. Third time's a charm right? Any suggestions on the stitch?

Rolling in...achhh! Works GREAT for hat brims but not my idea of how a scarf should behave.