What the heck is an argosy?

There's been a lot of buzz on the internerd about the Argosy scarf I've noticed, and given that I'm such a follower of most trends (ok slight sarcasm there) you know I just had to give it a whirl. It didn't really appeal to me via Knitty, but after checking out all the argosies (sic?) on flickr, I was pretty impressed. Is it the new clapotis? hmmmmm. The jury's still out on that one, but then I guess nothing could ever be that big.

I searched in vain at my local yarn stores for the requisite Noro Silk Garden Lite (or light as it should correctly be spelled...) only to be informed that it was (like most things) not yet available in Canada. From a consumer's standpoint, nothing good ever is. Or worse, no one wants to ship here, and it is endlessly frustrating.

So I began my ebay hunt knowing that 2 skeins couldn't possibly break the bank, and I got them both for 6 bucks! A deal--unheard of! I knew I wanted some dramatic colours that would really show off the geometry of the pattern, so I chose colourway #2014, and hit "buy it now". I thought I was being really clever in my colour choice until I re-read the pattern and discovered that it was the exact same yarn and colour recommended. How bizarre. Not so original after all.

And then it arrived:



hmmm, a little on the um "loud" side, wouldn't you say?



To me this is borderline "tie-dyed", and a hippie I most assuredly am not. But after all the fuss, I decided to make do anyway, and hope I'd be surprised in the end. There's definitely a lot of lesbians in my life who would no doubt appreciate a "rainbow" scarf! --I always rag my friend Shelia that she has single-handedly ruined the kitsch factor of rainbows for me and my straight compadres. Ah well, at least the gay community has left me my unicorns!

So it was an auspicious beginning. Not sure how noticeable it is in this photo but I missed a row somewhere at the beginning which basically inverted the first couple of inches, so it's purled for about 15 rows when it should be knitted. I didn't even notice it until I was this far along:



And I wasn't about to turn back at that point. Plus I was praying it wouldn't be noticeable after the blocking. The pattern was quick to memorize, but requires some concentration, particularly at the start, or you will get not so straight rows of yarn overs like I did:



yargh. Honestly, I don't know where my brain was at. So after that half-assed start things went a lot more smoothly and it's actually a really fun, easy knit. It's now done but I have yet to upload any photos, so those are soon to come.

I think I would have been way more into this colourway if the bright green and turqouise weren't included. I loved the way all of the other colours flowed into each other, and it really spurs you on when you're anxious to see how the next colour will look.



That is until of course I ran into the dreaded "Noro knot". Everything is flowing all Roy G. Biv, and then blam-o! Ball 2 they've tied a neon green onto a purple. Annoying. Winding it one way and then the other didn't really help me either, but I did the best I could to make it all flow.

So, finished photos to come, as I begin ten glorious days of vacay! La Sapiniere and Tremblant, here I come!