Here Be Dragons

This post is way overdue, so I'm going to sprinkle it with several project photos in a shameless attempt to satiate the masses (cue the crickets chirping). If you remember from my previous post, I'm working on the Nasty Dog Dragon scarf from Scarf Style. Even though I've never done intarsia color work before, I accepted this assignment because my dear husband, who rarely questions my knitting spending, asked for it. As I sat down to cast on, I started in with my usual, "How bad can it be?" mentality. My stress spiked briefly as I got to my first color introduction and quickly referenced the "Vogue Knitting Bible" for instructions.

Must digress for an important aside: FYI, if you don't have this book, BUY IT! No, I don't work for Vogue, and I don't get paid to endorse anything. Over the course of my blogging I fully intend to give you my opinions of products, patterns, etc. because I always appreciate getting a second opinion on knitting paraphenalia. So...I highly recommend this book because it is so comprehensive. It covers everything: cast-ons, increases, decreases, decorative stitches, color work, garment design and construction - you name it, it's covered. It even covers entrelac, which I've been dying to try. And it is filled with figures showing you what to do. Don't expect to find a bunch of patterns, because it's a reference book. But if you have a knitting question about a standard technique, you'll find the answer in this book. OK, back to the scarf...

So, I figure out how to add color, and I find it reminds me a lot of counted cross stitch. In fact, I fall into the mindset that my mother established when she taught me to cross stitch: the back of the piece should always look as good as the front, a.k.a don't criss cross your thread whilly-nilly. Any of you that cross stitch will probably know what's coming, and yes, you'd be right. Here's a picture of the dragon from the front:



















And here's a picture of the back:

Yes, this is a spaghetti mess. Yes, I am going to go insane weaving in all those stinking ends. Did I mention that there's a silk lining that you stitch on the back when it's done? Now, the instructions say to weave in all ends before whip stitching the lining to the back. Ha - who do they think they're fooling? I'm going to think long and hard if there's a reasonable way to keep the yarn in place without weaving in the ends (without knotting, of course). Feel free to provide your thoughts.

Now I'm onto the seed stitch & stockinette portion of the scarf, and I really like the interesting structural detail this provides.

When I've knit to nearly the desired length, there is a small amount of color work at the other end that mimics the initial color work. I have no idea what I'm going to do with all the leftover color yarn when I'm done, because there will be quite a bit. I'm thinking about finding some fair isle motif and adapting the colors for my leftovers, but I'm not sure what the project should be. Again, any suggestions are welcome. Just don't expect me to make a duplicate dragon scarf...