Tuesday 19 March 2013

Faith's Guide to Fancy Scarf Yarns - Part 2 - Triana & Rocio

The original fancy scarf yarn! Triana is just stunning, it's really got to be one of my favourites. Beautifully floaty and elegant, and available in more colours and varieties than you could shake a stick at. (Including a brilliant bright Kawasaki green to match my bike!!) Rocio and Triana are exactly the same to knit with, here's how they work...

Triana by Katia



Triana:
1 Ball
8mm Needles
8 Stitches

Rocio:
1 Ball
7mm Needles
8 Stitches

Triana is available in Triana Plain, which is all the variegated plain colours, and Triana Lux, which is the sparkly version I'm using here. Or of course there's the lovely bobbly version, Rocio.



The nicest thing about this yarn is how quick it is to knit. Knitting only about 4 rows gives you a piece of knitting about 4" long! When it's knitted up, Triana is a gorgeously floaty scarf, which is surprisingly warm and soft. The sparkly Lux variety is also very soft, and has none of that itchiness you often get with sparkly yarns. Using Bamboo needles is particularly helpful with Triana because the holes are so large. Bamboo needles are much less slippery that metal or plastic, so the stitches stay put when you're working with them and don't slide around too much.

When you pull Triana out, you'll find you've got a thick edge, which is the bottom, and a thin edge, which is the top you'll be working with. 



Casting On

Pull the yarn out and lay it on your table to begin. (You can hold the yarn up to do this, but it's easier to start with to use a table!) Poke your needle through the first hole like this:


Then bring your needle over and down and poke it through the next hole:



Once you've got 8 stitches on, you should end up with something looking like this:





Knitting

You'll be knitting with these holes along the top here:


Slide your needle in as with normal knitting, and then wind that hole around the right hand needle:


Put your needle through and off just like normal. On your next stitch, you'll be able to see the hole you've just used. All you need to do is move along one and use the next hole:


Once you've knitted the whole of your first row, you'll end up with something looking like this:


Just turn around and knit the next row in exactly the same way. (The scarf is all Knit, no Purl) After you've done a few rows, this is what you'll end up with:


So pretty isn't it?

Joining

Due to the way that Triana is made, you might occasionally come across a knot, or perhaps you might want to mix some colours to make a unique scarf. Either way, joining is really easy to do, and is practically invisible when it's done.

Start by snipping your two ends roughly straight:


Then lay the first hole of the new piece over the last hole of the old piece like this:


Knit these two holes together as if they were one:



And when it's done, spot the join...


Here it is, but it falls underneath the ruffles so won't be visible when the scarf is worn. How neat is that?



Casting Off

Casting off Triana is very similar to regular casting off. Knit your first two stitches:


Then hook your left needle under the first of these:


And pass it over the second stitch and off the needle:


Knit another stitch, so you have two stitches on your right needle again:


Now pass the first of these over as before. Keep going until you only have one stitch left:


Snip the yarn, and pass the whole strand through that last stitch:


Pull that tight:



And then knot it off:


When you're done, trim the end nice and close and hide it inside the ruffles at the bottom:


When the scarf is worn, the ends won't show at all because of the way it hangs.

Fabulous aren't they? Triana is one of the quickest of the fancy scarf yarns to knit. You really can easily do one in an evening if you want to. And the same applies to Rocio.

Here it is knitted up:


You'd be amazed just how soft those little bobbles are! They're lovely and squishy. Knitting Rocio is exactly the same as knitting Triana. It's just that instead of having to look for the the thick edge, the bobbles are the bottom edge. The holes along the top are identical to Triana, just slightly smaller.

Personally, I'd recommend using 7mm needles on Rocio, because I found it easier to knit on slightly smaller needles. You still cast on the 8 stitches just like you do with Triana.

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Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

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