  From Merriam- Webster's online urlLink dictionary :  Main Entry:  urlLink Eros Pronunciation:  'er- s,
 'ir-  Function:  noun Etymology:  Greek ErOs ,  from erOs sexual love;  akin to Greek erasthai to love,
 desire 1 :  the Greek god of erotic love -  compare urlLink CUPID 2 :  the sum of life- preserving instincts that are manifested as impulses to gratify basic needs,  as sublimated impulses,
 and as impulses to protect and preserve the body and mind -  compare urlLink DEATH INSTINCT 3 a :  love conceived in the philosophy of Plato as a fundamental creative impulse having a sensual element b often not capitalized :  erotic love or desire So,  the Eros scarf is finished,  and I like it,
 and it is Good.  Aside from its reaction to dropped stitches,  I think the worst part of working with it was the way it constantly got snagged on my nails and fingertips.  Fortunately,  it's summer and my hands aren't dry,  but if they were,
 that would have been a huge problem.  Near the end,  for some reason,  minute cuts would appear in my nails and snag the ladder " steps"  with every stitch,
 much like pantyhose.  It was annoying.  Now I'm a little leery about wearing it,  but heck,  I didn't spend several hours of my life knitting the scarf so that it can sit in a drawer.  I want to put up a urlLink cute hook I have to hang things like this,
 so that I can appreciate them even when they're not in use,  but I'll have to plan the location of the hook carefully so as not to attract certain feline members of my family.  Having recently finished urlLink Zen and the Art of Knitting ,  I read the definition of eros ( above)  and think that definition #
2 applies to this scarf.  I like to think of the scarf as protecting and preserving the body ( even if this one is more for decoration than warmth)  and the knitting of the scarf as protecting and preserving the mind.  It seems the purpose of Zen was to prove that knitting is a form of meditation.  The author interviewed a number of knitters to get their views on the matter,
 but in the end,  I don't think she actually proved her theory because most of the women she interviewed did not feel that knitting was actual meditation.  Regardless,  she did make a lot of relevant statements about the relaxing and stress- reducing aspect of the process of knitting.  Hence,
 preservation of the mind.
