A Scarf with many firsts

I mostly finished a scarf that I have been working on.

In making this scarf, it was the first time that I used Stitch Painter to do the design. I then downloaded it to my Passap E6000 console.

The red wool in this scarf is the first time that I have ever tried to make a variegated yarn using natural dye methods. I used cochineal (about 2 ounces of the dried bugs ground to a fine powder). The purple resulted from adding acid to the dye bath. I kept changing from an acidic bath to a basic bath amazed at the colors that resulted. If you are a Ravelry member, you can see the yarn before knitting at http://www.ravelry.com/projects/lcoknits/striped-lace-wool-yarn-cochineal-dyed.

Two yarns were used, the fingering red wool already described and a dark grey lace-weight alpaca single-stranded (I should have doubled it).

I knit the scarf using Stitch Pattern 183 (double bed knitting with both yarns being knit on back bed). It turned out to be 22” inches wide with 130 needles (-65 to 65). I am folding the completed knitting so the front bed design can be seen on both sides of the scarf, making it 11” wide.