All my life I have loved the beautiful word, Dardanelles, which is the name of the waterway that connects the Aegean Sea to the Sea of Marmara. I have finally found something that deserves the name: this graceful, lively crescent of knitting that will flow around your neck in any way you wish to arrange it. To buy the pattern for $6, click here. Several photos are below.

The knitting is easy to follow and deeply relaxing, with just enough cabling in the center to keep you mesmerized. Like the currents that rest at slack tide and gradually quicken to rush through the Dardanelles at their peak, the knitting seems to go faster and faster because you work fewer and fewer stitches as you approach the tip. The process is so soothing that I knit three in a row.

Frog Tree Ewetopia* is an exceptionally springy and friendly yarn which is kind to all the muscles you use (and overuse) for knitting. This yarn is spun with one ply of superwash Merino and one ply of regular Merino. Superwash absorbs dye more intensely, lending the yarn a charming marled appearance. Once your Dardanelles is done, you can stretch it, let go, and it will bounce back, bursting with energy as if spring-loaded. It reminds me of the Slinky that so mesmerized me as a child.

*Frog Tree Ewetopia is now known as Hikoo Trenzado.