The yarn is from Indie Dyer, a maker of glorious skeins of jewels. Its a wonderful yarn to play with, very soft and lustrous, and there is between 350 - 400 metres here (I didn't look at the band at all) I saw this one, down on the bottom of the finer sock yarn rack at the store, a little out of the way. The orange has got a little more depth and variation than the photo shows. Its much more copper, the yellow a richer deeper gold, the turquoise much more sated and dense.
I knew instantly that this was just what I needed to help me get out of my funk. I don't wear orange and coppers and brown at all. Copper and orange make me sallow and brown just turns me invisible, but I have a teal jacket that is exactly right for this yarn. Its a nice little jacket. It's warm enough for coat days, but not so warm that you have to take it off when you get to where you are going. It's been a close companion for several years, and though there still is some life left in her, a little pick me up is required.
Getting the scarf going is another matter entirely. I started at least 5 times. I tried a chevron lace design (you knit a chevron pattern into a stockinette ground using yarn overs). Nice, but not for this yarn. I tried a feather and fan. Blech. Icky. Phooey. I tried a Mrs. Hunter's stitch, but it felt like colour interrupted. I tried alternating garter ridges and stockinette. I tried just stockinette and seed stitch edges. Nothing showed off the yarn the way I saw the yarn. Nothing took advantage of its rich heart.
Strongly coloured yarns need careful handling. You have to find the sweet spot, that perfect balance between pattern and yarn. For strong hand paints, it is that point where the pattern is lacy enough to be seen but the lace is content to let the marvelous colours be the star.
I might have found it here. 
This is the Frazzled Knitters' Easy Drop Stitch Scarf. This is one of those little things that lists high on Ravelry's list of popular scarf patterns. Its simple, works in all kinds of yarn, and with careful handling, is magical in handpainted yarns.
If you take a good look at the pattern photo, you can see she hit the sweet spot of the scarf exactly right. Her colours wave across the scarf perfectly nestled in each drop lozenge. Serious magic.
Her yarn is a heavier than my sock yarn weight. I cast on 46 stitches to her 26 to get the sort of scarf width I'm looking for. I'm close to the sweet spot. There is a dramatic v shaped ebb and flow of coppery orange, but I am not sure if this is the look I want out of this wonderful yarn. I'm not sure I found this particular skeins sweet spot.
I'm going to knit one more repeat just to see if this trend keeps showing up and to see if I like the way it pulls together. It is quite possible that I'll be restarting yet again, aiming for a scarf of 36 stitches. From the way the pattern is working up, that 36 stitches might give me the same dramatic drifts of colour as the original.
If you swing a golf club, you want to hit the ball with the sweet spot on the clubs head. I've never done this in my life, and it probably has a lot do do with the way I play golf. I don't worry too much about this. In golf, I'm just content when I hit the ball.
I'm going to keep trying for the sweet spot with this yarn. I have no doubt with some patience and practise and a little fooling around, I'm going to find it.
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