Mermaid Silk

 

Ribbon yarn has given this item a look and feel unlike anything else I have created. I did not intend for this scarf to end up looking like a mermaid (scroll down to see the mermaid escaping out of the tub!), but I really think that "Mermaid Silk" is the best description for both the color and the final look of this delightful piece. There is a gorgeous shimmer to this fiber, which unfortunately does not show up in the photos. To the touch, it is sometimes like silk, and other times like fine sand. How can that be?! It is deliciously smooth and oddly scratchy at the same time. Also, the color is not exactly blue and not quite green, but seems all the more beautiful because it can't decide, and keeps changing in different light. Furthermore, this ribbon yarn changes its personality depending on its arrangement with itself.  As stitches, it creates a texture that looks coarse and is reminiscent of fish scales. As fringe, it tickles your skin and drapes like some kind of feathery sea creature. I absolutely love the look of it.  

This is the first time I have worked with this card of fiber. It is a nylon/polyester blend, and I guess that explains all its mixed personality traits. The yarn company calls it "Ribbonaire," and this color is "Arcadia." A pleasant sounding geographic location is a good name for this color, but I still prefer Mermaid Silk. 😁  All of its different characteristics, including this color, added up to such a new and interesting creative experience for me. I did not even know ribbon yarn is a thing, until I saw this yarn advertised in a special. 

    

It is surprisingly light weight, for as bulky as it is. This scarf is made from just one cake, and look how long it turned out! Plus there was plenty leftover for fringe. So, this was definitely a bargain as far as size goes... But I did have one teeny little problem: snagging. Ugh! So, I put lotion on my hands multiple times when working with this ribbon yarn, but that did not stop the snags. It kept catching on my skin, just itty bitty catches. Nothing to make me stop crocheting, but enough to make me notice it each time. The lotion did help a bit, but I guess the actual solution would be to move to a humid tropical climate. 😎

I tried a number of locations and backgrounds, trying to get the color to look in the photo like it does in real life. I never doctored any photo, or did any color editing. All I did was move from the living room to the dining room to the laundry room, turning on different lights, and moving various curtains. Every change had an interesting effect on the color. A great example is below: I put little Miss Mermaid Silk on a baby blue bath towel, and the camera got really confused about both colors! I had fun experimenting with these situations.

Haha!! Mermaid escaping from the tub! I had fun getting this picture just right. 😄

In the warm sunlight of the front room, Mermaid Silk is looking more green. 

Comfy in the cupboard of the laundry room, Mermaid Silk is looking a bit blue'ish.

Blue + Green + Ribbon yarn + Creative Crochet = Mermaid Silk