I finished knitting String Theory, and then the fun began. This is what it looked like after binding off. You have to drop some of the stitches in the purl section before you can continue binding off the next knit section. The purl section grows in width when the stitches are dropped, and you need to know how wide that section will be while binding off.
You can also see how much yarn I left unknit. I wouldn’t get much more height from it, so I just stopped knitting. Here are a few purl sections completely dropped. The piece kept getting wider and wider (which translates to longer and longer as a scarf).
I love how this looks. Since the knit sections are stockinette, they tend to curl on themselves, leaving the back side as the public side. It’s all good; that side is pretty, too.
It seems a shame to purl all those stitches, just to get rid of them at the end, but the results are worth it.
(‘scuse the myspace style photo)
I’m wearing this triple-looped around my neck. The finished length is 90 inches after wet-blocking. I think I would have liked this a little shorter and a bit wider (fewer stitches cast on, more rounds knit), but it’s pretty hard to know how long it’s going to be before dropping all those stitches. The purl sections were only 2 stitches wider than the knit sections, but what a difference after the drop!
You really want a smooth yarn for this project, because dropping stitches in hairy yarn would be really frustrating. This Malabrigo Arroyo is very smooth, so it was perfect for this project. I could have made it wider with another skein of yarn, but I’m not sure I could have endured knitting any more.
I’m really happy with this project. A little boring to knit, but good TV/travel knitting, after I figured out the appropriate sized needles. (That was totally my error.)
Now I want to knit a million other things!
