Day 251 and Gauge

I was playing with my stash and found a long lost purple that I loved. I figured I'd funk it up a little with some fur yarn (in small amounts of course otherwise one risks the tacky) but as soon as I dropped the fur yarn to continue plainly, I got the ugh. Ugh! It's so loose! Ugh! It's so flimsy! Ugh! The stitches are so hard to keep even!

Well I underestimated the thickness that the fur would add. I always had used it as a "carry along" yarn but had nearly always carried it along the entire way. Also most "carry along" yarns can be as thin as crochet cotton and don't change the gauge at all! Troubleshooting ensued.

Turns out the solution was pretty simple. Change the stitch. I was using (amer) DC for both yarns together and each stitch was fat and ample. When I dropped the fur yarn, I dropped the girth of the stitch. I compensated by making a fatter shorter stitch for the plain section and made the chain NOT count as a stitch. This made the width seem even closer to the DC section. A Half double stitch still wasn't making perfect gauge, but the difference was now negligible instead of blaring!

Worsted weight smooth yarn
fur/eyelash yarn
size M hook
needle for tails

This is a recipe for my own scarf, but the following row instructions can be worked in nearly any order.

Both yarns held together:
Beginning row only: Chain 12. DC into the 4th and every following chain.
Row A: Chain 3, turn. DC in the second and every following stitch across (the turning chain counts as a stitch here except after an HDC row.)

Cut the fur yarn. Work with the smooth yarn held alone.
Row B: Chain 2, HDC into the first stitch and in every stitch across including the turning chain.
Row C: Chain 2, HDC into the first stitch and in every stitch across NOT including the turning chain.

My scarf was as follows. Beginning Row, A, *B, 9 of C, 2 of A* repeat the row sequence between the stars until you have a satisfactory length. Kind of tricky instructions here. The gist is that you're working in stripes with DCs for double yarn and HDCs for single yarn. In DC the turning chain is a stitch, but in HDC the turning chain is not a stitch. Have at it! :D