I predict a riot!
I was wondering around the haberdashery section a while ago when I stumbled across this yarn in some gorgeous colours. It's called Patons Smootie DK and it's acrylic yarn, although you'd never know it. It feels like a sort of bamboo/cotton blend and lives up to it's name too by being nice and soft.
It was one of those occasions, maybe you've experienced it too, where it just looked so gosh darn pretty sitting all colourful in a row that I had to have some. So, with absolutely no idea of a project in mind, I started picking up all my favourite colours and seeing which worked together and which didn't. To put the cherry on top of the already very desirable cake, nearly every colour seemed to go beautifully against every other. Happy day.
Having got this delightful package home I arranged them in a pretty heap and let them sit awhile, waiting for ideas to form, take shape and grow until rich and juicy, ripe for picking. In the end I decided they would be just right for an old idea that I had last year. A nice, long, stripy, colourful, crescent shaped scarf with a lot of hangly, dangly bits.
I suppose fortunately, I'd always imagined this contraption to have tassels or some such trailing bits and bobs. Fortunate because deciding to use this many colours on a knitted scarf would have been an end weaving nightmare otherwise. Happily though, all of that unpleasantness was avoided and those flipping flapping bits of yarn were allowed to swing freely.
Not only did I make my life easy by leaving the ends to do their own thing, the joy of knitting these rainbow rows together was so huge. I enjoyed myself so much and the colours themselves just fit together so easily. So many wonderful combinations to try out, so few that wouldn't be happy neighbours if put together. I do love it when the colour choices flow so easily. Sometimes it can be an agonising, drawn out process and I can be stymied for ages while desperately searching for the right colour to use next. Not this time though, this time was pure pleasure.
For the last finishing touch I decided to tie the ends into small groups to make little tassels, just to make sure nothing became loose. What a fabulous little project it's been and how I've loved working on it.
I'm planning on getting the pattern finalised and into the shop quite soon, hopefully before Christmas. So maybe, if you fancy it, you can have some fun with it too. I really hope you'll get as much enjoyment out of it as I did.
The best part is that I still have plenty of those lovely colours left so I can make something else with it. Oh, but what should it be?
Update (23rd January 2012):
The pattern is now available in the Cherry Heart Boutique, you'll find it on the 'Knit' page.
S x
♥