A Very Kvothe Birthday

I've been meaning to write something about my latest bus project since... well, since I started it. It is knitted with the completely fabulous Nimu Torva that I bought from the internet then posted a picture of.

Before I succumbed to the lure of lustrous, brilliant-blue yarn, I forced myself to search Ravelry for a pattern that I would actually knit with it. I was not going to condemn this beautiful yarn to the Eternal Stash where far too many fabulous things already languish, forlorn and unknitted.

Ever since I saw a Clapotis at Get Knitted, I've been rather fascinated by it, as I think most knitters are. There's something irresistible about a pattern that so blatantly breaks the rules. So I was thinking maybe my lovely new Torva might be destined for a scarf. But I have a lot of scarves, plus a clapotis would probably take two skeins and I was trying desperately to be good and buy just the one.

If you search Ravelry for Clapotis, you get a lot of different versions of the same technique. On the first page of results, something caught my eye: Kvothe

Excellent photos? Check

One skein? Check

Triangular scarf? Check (Asymmetrical? Bonus check!)

Named after a character in a really good book? Check!

Well, there was no way I was going to not knit that! The only problem was forcing myself to break with my love of skeins and spend an entire knitting group session winding the fabulous cobalt blue into a ball.

The pattern was very well explained, despite being a translation from German. In fact, if I had one criticism, it might be that it's a little over explained. There's written instructions and two different versions of the chart. I had to read it through three times before I realised that it really was as simple as it first appeared!

At first I couldn't imagine how I'd ever get to grips with the rows but after a couple of days I had a revelation and realised just how easy it is to memorise: increase every row on the long edge, decrease every other row on the short edge. And, the genius of it is, because it's asymmetrical you just stop when you run out of yarn. Nothing gets wasted!

Even so, I was expecting to get bored because I loathe long rows. What I discovered is that rows don't feel long if you're working a pattern that requires enough concentration to keep you interested but not so much that you get frustrated. All in all, this pattern gets top marks from me!

For fellow Ravelers, I should probably explain I named my project Mantle of the Chandrian after the evil creatures that slayed Kvothe's family in the book. This is not because my scarf is evil (at least I hope not) but because of the blue flame that's a sign of their presence. Hey, if the pattern is inspired by yarn that matches the character's hair, I have to go with the colour theme of blue. 

Anyway, I finished it on Thursday night and set it to block. I then went away, drank wine, ate pizza, and generally celebrated my birthday. When I returned home, the blocking was finished!

This is not a picture of my scarf blocking.
This is a picture of my scarf on a wall.

 

The biggest surprise was just how fabulous the drape of the scarf is. Somewhere along the way I think I forgot that Torva is 20% cashmere. Also, I just can't say enough about the colour. I haven't managed to take a single photo that captures it properly but the blend of shades is just perfect. There's enough variation to keep it interesting but nothing so busy that it swamps the simple pattern.

I think I may have a new favourite scarf and, believe me, this scarf has a lot of competition to beat.

So, why was it a Very Kvothe Birthday? Because, in addition to finishing my scarf, my sister gave me the sequel to The Name of the Wind. So, for the first time in a while, I spent almost all of Sunday under a warm blanket getting lost in a book. 

Sorry, knitting, you can't come close to that.