completed garter

After reading the comments on my “almost garter” post I decided I liked the idea of changing gauge as I changed color. So, when I was about 2/3 through the two original hanks of lavender and grey Ultra Alpaca Light I added a ball of Pure Merino Heather in one of my favorite greens - the one Margery has so deliciously named Pesto Genovese.  The pattern stitched changed when I added a third color. I kept knitting every row, but knitting one row each of 3 colors (in the same order) over and over - produces garter stitch.  I no longer had to use both ends of the needle either. I kept that up until I ran out of one of original colors, then I continued in garter in the Pesto Genovese only until I ran out of it too.  I never changed needles sizes and to my surprise my scarf didn’t change width, even though Pure Merino Heather is considerably larger than Ultra Alpaca Light. So much for the change of gauge! I think, as my friend Janet suggested, that this might be an artifact of the alpaca being a fiber that likes to expand to it’s fullest potential and that Merino wool has a compressible quality. The merino end of my scarf is not a supple as the alpaca end, but I like the contrast, and I love the way the tightly knit merino stands up like little pearls  along each garter row. My finished scarf  is about 52″ long. Not the 5′ I thought I wanted, but it does the trick. Hmm, who shall I give it to in a few weeks?