Fire Breathing Unicorn

 

I've finished my Fire Breathing Unicorn scarf!  This was such an interesting project.  It was fun to knit as well as easy, but it never got boring.  It's all garter stitch and it's all short rows.  You just use regular wrap and turn short rows, but you don't have to pick up the wraps since they just melt into the garter stitch.  If you can count, you can knit this!

The pattern was Optical Delusion: Conflagration and I used Sweet Georgia Yarns Tough Love Sock in Sunken Treasure, an ESK exclusive for the Under the Sea themed Yarnathon this year.  The pattern calls for multicolored or variegated yarn with three to five inch long stretches of color and this fit perfectly.  This was also my first project for the ESK third quarter KAL, which is based on using ESK exclusive yarns.

I started my second project for the KAL yesterday afternoon and I'll show it to you tomorrow!

Ready to Begin the End!

 

I'm ready to begin the final chart for this scarf!  This has been such a fun project to work on, watching the short rows shape the colors into flames, but I'm ready to finish it up and move on.  Hopefully I'll be back later this week with a finished scarf to show you.

Yesterday I spent the afternoon cutting out sewing projects and I hope to get some more done today.  The issue with sewing is that you have to cut stuff out first and for me, that means taking over the kitchen island.  The problem there is that everyone uses the island for food prep and finding a few hours that no one is eating is difficult (teenage boy).  If I can get several projects cut out all at once, I can sew them together whenever I want to.  My goal for this week is to get several projects ready to go.

Unicorn

 

I've added another couple of repeats to the Fire Breathing Unicorn scarf.  I am definitely past the halfway point now but I'm not quite ready to pull out the scale.  The pattern (very helpfully) gives an approximate weight required for the final chart, so I'll just need to periodically check my remaining yarn after another couple more repeats or so.  I'm also far enough along that you can see the crescent shaping that's happening because of the short rows.

I feel like I'm on the home stretch on this project as well as my socks, but all I want to do is knit my Relax pullover.  I'm trying to stay focused on working a little on everything, but the call of the Dragonfly is hard to resist.

25% More Unicorn, 25% More Fire Breathing Awesomeness

 

I've done another couple of repeats on my Fire Breathing Unicorn scarf.  I'm somewhere in the general vicinity of halfway done with this.  I think.  I didn't weigh my yarn before I started so it's not like the estimate is based on science or anything.  I just feel like I'm about halfway done.  This isn't really the blog you come to if you're looking for scientific accuracy anyway.  At least I hope not.

There was a question about the type of short rows I'm using and there's really nothing special going on.  These are just plain, old wrap and turn short rows, but since they're being worked in garter stitch, you don't have to pick up the wraps.  The wraps just disappear into the garter stitch, so while you are taking the time to work the wrap and turn, you don't have to slow down and pick up wraps and knit them with their stitch or anything else fancy.  This project really is 95% just about counting!

More Fire Breathing Unicorn

 

I'm into the main repeat sections that will give the scarf it's length.  Each repeat is taking me about an hour, and other than lots of counting, it's easy knitting.  This photo, moving away from the knitting more than Friday's photo, makes the project look like an oil slick.  I'm loving watching the colors change along the short rows.  It makes the knitting more interesting.  For such a simple project (it's really just garter stitch with short rows), it's fascinating to knit!

A Fire Breathing Unicorn

 

I started something new.  It's been ages since I knit an actual scarf (versus a wrap or shawl), but as soon as I saw the Optical Delusion: Conflagration pattern, I knew I had to make it.  The pattern is recommended for varigated or multicolored yarns with short lengths of color (three to five inches).  I know it's meant to represent flames and I could see it as leaves knit in greens, but I decided to try something else.  I had a skein of Sweet Georgia Yarns Tough Love Sock in Sunken Treasure so I thought I'd see how it worked.  Obviously, it's not conventional flames, but I realized as I watched the yellow, pink, and turquoise dance with the dark gray, I was knitting a fire breathing unicorn.

I'm still giggling about it.