I’ve been wanting to knit this pattern practically since I learned how to knit. I just absolutely love how it looks and think that the tattered appearence is really unique. My friend, Ambrose, just turned 21, and I knew that I needed to knit her something just as amazing as the Night Vale pillow I made her last year. She’s a huge fan of Les Mis, so I figured that this scarf would be a hit with her.

Getting the yarn was an adventure, as there aren’t really any places in my town that sell a wide variety of yarn. One of my roommates and I drove a town over and went to the yarn store there, where a very nice worker helped me pick out something suitable.

I decided, for the sake of time and money, to cut down the width of the scarf from 78 stitches (4 repeats of the drop stitches) to 62 (3 repeats). The scarf is still plenty wide, and will be more appropriate for Ambrose’s size. I stopped counting rows about eight inches in and just eyeballed it, which worked pretty well for me. The pattern itself was very easy to follow, but like others have noted, can be very tedious. Dropping the stitches is always a little nervewracking, and so I made sure to take my time with all the drop rows and make sure I was dropping them in the right spot. There were still a few instances where I was frantically trying to reclaim misdropped stitches, but not as many as I thought there would be.

The yarn didn’t felt much, which I expected with only a 40% wool content, but I gave it a try anyways. The results are still very nice. I ran it through the hot/cold wash cycle twice, ran it through the dryer, and then hand felted it in my kitchen sink for about half an hour alternating between hot and cold water. Since I don’t own blocking mats (I haven’t done a projected that required them so far) I bought a foam trifold (like the ones kids use for science fairs) and cut it into pieces and taped the pieces together to be the right size. Then I just pinned it like a butterfly (Roommate #3’s words) and let it dry.

The finished result is even more beautiful than I expected. It’s just under 6 feet long from end to end, and about 10.5 inches wide. The fabric is soft and airy and light (perfect for Texas winters) and the felting really even out the stitches so they look more uniform. It drapes like a DREAM, and it’s so versatile in how it can be worn. I’m very tempted to make one for myself, despite the many tears shed over trying to get this one done.

Ambrose ended up loving it, which is all I really needed. The last picture is of her modeling it.

Techniques learned: working with lace-weight, purposingly dropping stitches, machine felting, hand felting, blocking.

Completely unrelated-to-knitting update: Ambrose is now my girlfriend.

Another unrelated update: Ambrose agreed to marry me!