Flores Dandy Scarf

So, after lamenting how long it takes to begin a new project, I finally came across what I figured would be the perfect pattern for the yarn featured in my previous post, Lang Yarns Flores in purple.

I had picked up 2 skeins on sale at Casa Lana, in Cologne (Cologne yarn shops post to come!), and I wanted to make a decorative neck piece for it. So I scoured the Ravelry database until I came across the Dandy Scarf pattern, by Alexandra Tinsley.

I noted that it’s easily customisable and figured I’d have enough yarn to bang this out pretty quickly. Considering my recent failure with the Gisela pattern (another post to come), I wanted something to help boost my confidence back up. The Greek wrap definitely helped with that, but I needed more than just one successful project to motivate me to the point where I could pick up Gisela again and fix my mistakes on it.

I quickly bought the pattern, and Alexandra was very timely in emailing it to me after my purchase through Etsy (you can sometimes wait quite a bit of time to hear from sellers on there). I began the scarf, and after only one small hitch (a few edge stitches fell off my needle one evening), I was able to backtrack only 10 rows and pick up from there to finish up – yesterday! I did have to return to Cologne to buy another skein of the yarn, as I didn’t follow the instructions and begin the second half when I ran out of the first ball – and I wanted to include tassles anyway, which I wouldn’t have had enough for even if I had followed those instructions.

I have yet to block, as I need a considerable area to lay the scarf flat and possibly iron it, or at the very least pin it out when it’s wet, and I don’t have any tools to do that here. It’s too heavy to wear in Greece, or even here in Bonn as there seems to be a pocket of tropical weather visiting us this week (we’re uncertain how long it will last – usually it’s only a couple of days at a time, followed by 2-3 weeks of chilly, rainy weather), so I’m not missing out on any wearing opportunities. And best of all, I have some of the yarn left, so if my tassles ever destroy themselves, I can make more – or consider making some other type of hanging decoration. All in all, I’m quite pleased with the results of this one.

You can check out my Dandy Scarf on Ravelry.