The Heavy Rabbit Scarf
As of this morning, my cabled angora scarf is complete! I actually finished another project tonight, but I'm saving that for another post, since it's a gift, and I don't want to talk about it until it reaches its owner.
But anyway, yeah... I finished this scarf, after a few trials and tribulations. If you read this post, you'd know that I broke a needle before I got halfway through the project.
By three quarters of the project, the other half of the needle broke. What a croc.
So I gave up on that needle and went to my old Boye needles, and I finally got it done.
The finished dimensions are 50 inches by 12 inches.
A couple of things I'd hoped for:
1) I hoped that if I washed it, it would wash away some of the fuzz. Not really.
2) I hoped that the cables would be more apparent, but after washing, again, not really.
3) I hoped that after blocking, the ends wouldn't be so splayed out, but nah.
I did manage to work an i-cord bind-off on one end, though. I thought I would go back to the starting end to work an i-cord, and I probably could have pulled it off, but quite frankly, I couldn't be bothered. Instead, I grabbed a crochet hook and worked slip stitches along that end, and it kind of mimics that rounded edge that and i-cord does.
By the way, did you know that i-cord stands for "idiot cord?" Apparently, it's supposed to be so easy, an idiot can do it. I guess that means I'm an idiot, because I find it difficult, but the i-cord bind off is easier, at least.
I must say, though, that this scarf is gloriously soft! It is a discontinued yarn, simply named Angora, from Elsebeth Lavold. You'd never know there was wool in this thing (20 percent, to be exact). It is curiously heavy, however. That begs the question: are angora rabbits weighed down by their fur? The content ratio is 60 percent angora, 20 percent wool and 20 percent nylon. I don't imagine that the nylon is giving this scarf its heft. Maybe that's why you only ever see pictures of angora rabbits just sitting there: maybe they're too tired to move around. Or maybe they are excessively strong, and can take out a tree with a kick.
Or maybe I'm in a silly mood.
I'm glad that I managed to finish this scarf before the end of winter. It's been reeeally cold here recently, and it'll be nice to snuggle into the scarf on the cold days. It does still shed, but I'm not that worried about that. I experienced the same thing with my alpaca entrelac scarf, and I don't think it's shedding at all anymore now that I've worn it so much, especially over my face in the freezing temperatures of recent days. If there were little hairs still flying off the thing, I'd be coughing out hairballs every day!
Hairballs aside, I'm very, very excited to be able to move on to other projects. It's one of the downfalls of only working on one thing at a time: it's very easy to get bored with your current project. I picked up my spindle this afternoon and managed to spin for about an hour or so while watching some of the M*A*S*H marathon. It felt great to be spinning again, like I'd been welcomed home. And I'm also ready to start knitting Haruni. I read the notes for it last night, and I love knowing that Haruni means "grandmother" in Tolkien's elven language.
I wonder what a Tolkien super angora rabbit would be like...?
But anyway, yeah... I finished this scarf, after a few trials and tribulations. If you read this post, you'd know that I broke a needle before I got halfway through the project.
By three quarters of the project, the other half of the needle broke. What a croc.
So I gave up on that needle and went to my old Boye needles, and I finally got it done.
The finished dimensions are 50 inches by 12 inches.
A couple of things I'd hoped for:1) I hoped that if I washed it, it would wash away some of the fuzz. Not really.
2) I hoped that the cables would be more apparent, but after washing, again, not really.
3) I hoped that after blocking, the ends wouldn't be so splayed out, but nah.
I did manage to work an i-cord bind-off on one end, though. I thought I would go back to the starting end to work an i-cord, and I probably could have pulled it off, but quite frankly, I couldn't be bothered. Instead, I grabbed a crochet hook and worked slip stitches along that end, and it kind of mimics that rounded edge that and i-cord does.
By the way, did you know that i-cord stands for "idiot cord?" Apparently, it's supposed to be so easy, an idiot can do it. I guess that means I'm an idiot, because I find it difficult, but the i-cord bind off is easier, at least.
I must say, though, that this scarf is gloriously soft! It is a discontinued yarn, simply named Angora, from Elsebeth Lavold. You'd never know there was wool in this thing (20 percent, to be exact). It is curiously heavy, however. That begs the question: are angora rabbits weighed down by their fur? The content ratio is 60 percent angora, 20 percent wool and 20 percent nylon. I don't imagine that the nylon is giving this scarf its heft. Maybe that's why you only ever see pictures of angora rabbits just sitting there: maybe they're too tired to move around. Or maybe they are excessively strong, and can take out a tree with a kick.
Or maybe I'm in a silly mood.
I'm glad that I managed to finish this scarf before the end of winter. It's been reeeally cold here recently, and it'll be nice to snuggle into the scarf on the cold days. It does still shed, but I'm not that worried about that. I experienced the same thing with my alpaca entrelac scarf, and I don't think it's shedding at all anymore now that I've worn it so much, especially over my face in the freezing temperatures of recent days. If there were little hairs still flying off the thing, I'd be coughing out hairballs every day!
Hairballs aside, I'm very, very excited to be able to move on to other projects. It's one of the downfalls of only working on one thing at a time: it's very easy to get bored with your current project. I picked up my spindle this afternoon and managed to spin for about an hour or so while watching some of the M*A*S*H marathon. It felt great to be spinning again, like I'd been welcomed home. And I'm also ready to start knitting Haruni. I read the notes for it last night, and I love knowing that Haruni means "grandmother" in Tolkien's elven language.
I wonder what a Tolkien super angora rabbit would be like...?
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LadyGreyy from RAK on Ravelry