The name for this scarf comes from a phrase in Virgil’s Aeneid, in which a spirit “vanished into thin air.” I thought this scarf has that sense of going from the substantial to the insubstantial (and then back again).

Thin Air displays an interesting contrast between its dense garter stitch border and its open, lacy interior. The lace section slowly grows wider until the middle of the scarf, and then decreases again. The effect is created by using short rows (but with no wraps!) in the border section and dropped stitches in the lace. The two ends of the scarf are rounded semi-circles, which create the illusion of the border running smoothly in a continuous loop around the edge of the piece.

This project uses one skein of fingering weight yarn. Instructions are included for adapting the pattern to use up the entire available yardage in one’s skein.

Gauge is not critical, but will affect the size of the finished scarf.