Yes, I do it too, and there’s that sort of panicky feeling. Can I really finish that ________ in time? (You fill in the blank) But we just got in this exciting new yarn from Trendsetter called Flamenco. Reminiscent of ChaCha, it’s great for quick-to-make scarves but with a very different and very feminine look. It looks like a tape yarn in the ball, but it actually is meant to be pulled open and knit like ChaCha through the loops on the long edge.
This solid color scarf that I created took just one ball and can be done in just a few hours. It measures about 40″ long and about 5″ wide. For a longer or wider scarf, use 2 balls.
“Knitting” with this yarn takes a bit of getting used to, but after a while you’ll find it’s no more difficult than ChaCha to knit. There are, though, a few tips I’d like to share with you.
You can use a needle up to size 10 US, but I recommend an eight or nine, and no smaller. This is because it’s a bit slippery and if your loops are big around a small needle, you’ll be more likely to drop one, and you really don’t want to do that. If you are using a contrast yarn, use the size that matches the gauge of the contrast yarn.
Flamenco comes in balls, and you don’t have to rewind it like ChaCha, but you have to stretch the yarn out crosswise so that you can see the mesh. It still will want to close up on either side, but that’s ok. Unwrap about a yard at a time, pulling it from side to side until it’s about 3″ wide.
To hide the beginning of the yarn, the best results will come with a mitered triangle fold. Lay out the stretched tape with the raw edge at your right hand. Pick up the lower right corner and fold diagonally up and match the spaces to the top edge. You will now have 3 or 4 spaces that will have double threads along the top, and a folded diagonal edge on the end. You have to remember to treat the double threads as one for the first two rows.
The most simple scarf comes from threading your needle through every opening along one edge, for as many stitches as you want. Turn, insert the right hand needle and place the next opening on the needle and pull through. (Those of you who carry yarn in your left hand will have an easier time of this than the rest of us.) Continue across (don’t forget the double threads on the end!), and when you look at it on the needle don’t panic. After these two rows it will look all floppy and stretched out, but once you continue with the 3rd row it will take shape into a consistent width.
Next post: how I did the scarf above a little differently.
