Tag Archive | cowls

FO: Lydian Cowl

Jun30

For my fourth and final FO of June (it felt like more, honestly), today I’ll share my Lydian cowl. This yarn is Delicious Yarns Frosting Worsted in Boysenberry and it’s quite yummy. So soft and squishy, and great drape both before and after blocking. It started out as a different cowl but got frogged halfway through, and it was a bit splitty after that, but I’ll take the blame for that. I still loved knitting with it and I think I’ll love wearing it … when it’s not 90 degrees outside!

B6547D3B-B810-4760-89C5-05A9E54D9844_1_201_aThis was my first time knitting something using charts, rather than written instructions, and it wasn’t terrible. It helped that I didn’t have to memorize too many symbols, and I wasn’t tracking hundreds of stitches.

I love that main panel that almost hints at cables but isn’t, and I love the back that’s lacy but not a boring simple lace. However, I had a heck of a time with this pattern and I don’t know why. I kept getting to the end of the round and being one stitch off, and then I’d have to tink back. It wasn’t the pattern’s fault; it’s not complicated and it was well-written and clear. I think my brain was just struggling with keeping track of so many things going on. Maybe I’m better off sticking with simpler patterns right now!

028B8335-C9B2-4C3C-AB66-C91559CB70C3You can find the pattern on Ravelry here.

The designer is also on Create2Thrive but this pattern isn’t, though maybe it will be added soon. I haven’t done anything with that site yet but I did sign up for an account on LoveCrafts and you can find me as bonnyknits. It’s not bad, but so far it doesn’t quite offer everything I love about Ravelry, so I’m still tinkering and pondering. Have you found any other great fiber community sites?

Two for Tuesday

Mar17

It is Tuesday, right? Things are starting to get a little muddled, and it’ll probably get worse before it gets better. And with my WIP count down to two, I needed to cast on some new projects to make sure I have plenty to keep my anxiety in check. My Penny sweater is going so well. I’m loving it! It’s lace front and back, so no miles of plain, boring stockinette, and it’s sport weight on size 6 needles so it’s going a little bit faster than the fingering weight Boxy. But also, on that note, the pattern calls for DK, so I have no idea why I ordered the sport-weight Malabrigo Arroyo instead of a DK weight like Rastita. But hey, I did a gauge swatch and made the appropriate adjustments, so it should be fine!

F746BB59-4973-4039-907F-7A0327BB211F_1_201_aI also started a new worsted weight cowl. The yarn is Delicious Yarns Frosting Worsted and oh, it IS delicious to knit with. I love how soft and supple it is, or maybe that’s just my mind playing tricks on me as I switch between fingering, sport, and worsted weights. In any case, this project is growing quickly, but it’s on hold for the moment.

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The pattern is Wormwood, and it’s one of those bandana-style cowls which I love to wear, but I found a couple of errors that were giving me a little grief. So I messaged the designer, and she said she’ll be putting out an updated pattern in the next few days. I’m going to wait until that’s out before I knit more. Or at least I say that now!

Besides extra knitting time, the silver lining to being at home more is that I know my dogs are super happy. Duncan has been beside me 90% of the time, and the other two are pretty close. I hope you all are finding moments of peace at home as well.

FO Friday

Mar13

It’s Friday the 13th and the world has gone mad and I’m getting more evidence that my anxiety lives in my stomach, but I’m still knitting. We have to, right, to keep us sane? Or is that just me? I finished another project last night, leaving me with just two on the needles. This one is my review project and I’m not ready for the full review, but I wanted to give a peek.

img_7180I’ll show good color photos in the full reveal, but this does show off how pretty the pattern is! It’s the Oleada Cowl and it was fast and easy, and I love chevrons.

Hopefully you’re all taking precautions and staying healthy. My goal for the weekend is to stay home and cast on three new projects. The girl is heading home for spring break today, and the boy is on spring break next week, so I’ll have a full house again…just in time to do some good spring cleaning!

Musings on a Monday

Jan20

If you read my last post, you’ll know I was meant to work on my Faded Boxy yesterday. Why I thought making an oversized sweater in fingering weight yarn was a good idea, I’ll never understand, because it’s taking 84 years just to knit the dang body. I started this sweater over four months ago and I’m finally getting to a point where I can imagine splitting for the sleeves.

908CC117-7E5F-453E-A443-3B519E8A2B1A_1_201_aThis is about 16 inches, and I need 19 before I split. That’s just one color section; I can do that. Or can I? Yesterday I did not work on my Faded Boxy. Instead I cast on a new worsted weight cowl, because those are my jam right now.

8875B99C-4DF8-4BA1-AF48-E0741A8D8748This is the Diamond Purl Cowl in KnitPicks Preciosa, color Tadpole. This is one of my favorite yarns from KnitPicks. It’s soft and fluffy and I love the subtle variations in the color. The pattern is pretty easy, still a comfort project as I sit with Duncan. Now, the question is: as I watch the coverage of the Australian Open today, will I work on the cowl, or the sweater?

And today is my Dad’s birthday. He would have been 76 today, and he’s been gone almost eight years now. Yes, it’s gotten easier, but I still miss him, and it’s still sharp sometimes.

IMG_5621Not everyone marks these days, the birthdays and death days of people they’ve lost. Maybe they think it prolongs the grieving process. It’s different for everyone but for me, I think of Dad often. I’m going to be sad about it sometimes regardless. And recognizing those days means they’re still important to me, and that Dad’s still a part of our family, even if just in this tiniest of ways. I like having this special day where I remember Dad fondly and with intent, and I allow myself to feel the loss a little bit. So, Happy Birthday, Dad. Wish you were here.

FO: Peyto Lake Cowl

Jan19

There has been knitting again! I got a full night’s sleep Friday night which felt amazing and restored a lot of energy, both physical & mental/emotional. Long-term sleep deprivation is not fun, and I’m really glad Duncan is almost to the point of being left alone at night without the cone. Anyway, I spent some time hanging with Dunkie yesterday and finished a cowl I haven’t even shown you before.

You know my goal is to work down my stash, so lately I’ve just been poking around and pulling out skeins that call my name, then finding a project for them. This is a skein of Malabrigo Worsted, one of my favorite Malabrigo yarns, in the color Whales Road. (Which I also have in Mecha and the colors look SO different which is weird.) I poked around in Ravelry and settled on the Peyto Lake Cowl, since the water theme kind of went with the blue/purple colors of the yarn. The wavy lace gets a little lost in the color variegations but I don’t mind.

I’m just loving knitting worsted weight cowls again, after so long knitting with fingering weight. I’ve got another one on my needles, but it’s a totally mindless all-stockinette cowl with rolled edges and everything, so I save that for when I don’t want to use any brain cells at all. This yarn is Dark Side of the Moon by Alexandra’s Crafts, in the color Purple Rain. And it’s a merino/SILK blend, yay!

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I’ve got a two days left in my three-day weekend, so I anticipate more knitting in my future. Let’s see if I can motivate myself to work on my Purple Faded Boxy, or if I’ll cast on for another worsted weight cowl. I do have the yarn already picked out and the pattern purchased!

Bandana Cowl

Jan14

What’s today, Tuesday? I think that’s right. I’m still sleeping downstairs with a dog and I do believe it’s killing brain cells every night. But Duncan did well by himself yesterday while we were all gone, mostly thanks to a healthy dose of a sedative. He slept all day and all evening and didn’t perk up until 4 am, unfortunately. He got a slightly smaller dose today and hopefully that will balance things out a bit. Anyway, I’m really here to share the knitting, because I finished a project. I started a Bandana Cowl last week with some Woolfolk LUFT from my stash.

img_6545I LOVE this yarn. It’s so soft and lightweight, it’s like wearing a warm cloud. I had a little over a skein and a half so I just kept knitting the top part until the yarn was almost gone. It’s been done for a few days, even washed and blocked, but I never found a good time to take photos, until yesterday, when I wore it for the first time.

img_6608It’s perfect, just perfect. I can pull it up to cover part of my face and it’s super warm without being heavy. And I just now looked up the fiber content: it’s 55% merino and 45% Pima cotton. I had no idea there was cotton in there! Well, this is the best yarn I’ve ever used with cotton in it and now I want more. Except not because I’m not adding to my stash right now! Right? Right!

Chasing Squirrels

Jan7

I had projects picked out to work on while I’m home with Duncan; I even cast on a new one this morning. But then I decided I wanted to knit a little sheep, and also I want to crochet a little Eeyore. So I pulled out my baskets of yarn leftovers for those, and stumbled across a shawl I made six years ago that had dropped stitches and was a tangled mess. Like a dog distracted by a squirrel, I decided I really needed to frog that shawl and reclaim the yarn. Guys, it took over two hours.

But hey, I have a ball of purple yarn to add back to my stash! Sadly, it’s weird yarn (Feza Yarns Alp Natural) that’s a mixture of different fibers, including one stretch of velvet/chenille stuff that knits up weird. Plus, each stretch of yarn is joined by a knot, and I don’t love that. I don’t know if I’ll try it again any time soon, but it is a good feeling to at least have it available if I want want, rather than a shawl I couldn’t wear.

I was more focused yesterday, which is how I also have a new FO to share. This is another Flor de Maio cowl, which I’ve made four times now, in Plymouth Yarns Baby Alpaca Grande Glow.

fullsizeoutput_2531I love knitting with alpaca. I love the thread of sparkle in the Grande Glow. Sadly, I can’t wear it next to my neck, so this one is for a friend at work. And now that this is done, and the yarn untangling is done, maybe I’ll get back to the Bandana cowl I cast on this morning!

Just Try It: A FO

Dec29

Let’s get back to a bit of knitting, shall we? Over my Christmas break I pulled a skein of Magpie Fibers Swanky DK out of my stash and it became a neck tube! I wanted something snug enough that I could feel the cashmere softness against my skin and long enough to snuggle down into when it’s cold. I haven’t gotten to wear it yet but I think it will be wonderfully cozy.

The pattern is Just Try It and I did the slimmest version, which I think they call the “guy version”. It’s so simple and knitting ribbing with a cashmere blend was so much my jam that I wanted to knit until the yarn was gone. Instead, I stopped when the cowl was about 10″ tall and decided to make fingerless mitts with the rest of the skein.

I scoured Ravelry to find a good ribbed pattern for sport weight yarn, since I wanted the mitts to match the neck tube, and I couldn’t find one that looked like I what I wanted. So I decided to improvise my own pattern! I took my favorite fingerless mitt pattern, the 75 Yard Malabrigo Mitts, and cast on fewer stitches with smaller needles and did the same ribbing pattern as in the cowl. The thumb I did the same as the original mitts since I couldn’t figure out how to make it ribbed, and I love how it turned out, growing out of one of the stockinette sections. I made them snug and short, perfect for wearing while I’m doing things like typing or knitting, and they’re officially my favorite new mitts.

These took 95 yards and I had enough left over that I could have made the cuff a bit longer, but I’m pleased with them. You can see the pattern notes here if you’re interested.

A Sea Chanty of Sorts

Dec18

Because the holidays aren’t busy enough, I recently agreed to test knit a cowl pattern for Lindalou Anne Holley, and I’m happy to report that the pattern is live now! It’s called A Sea Chanty of Sorts, and it’s a one-skein pattern for either fingering or DK weight, and there are small and large versions of both. I chose to knit the larger DK version so I could knit up my gorgeous Big Sky Yarn Co. Squish DK, in the color Big Sky.

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The diamond pattern is made with a slipped stitch/cable motif. Maybe my yarn was slippery, but I did have to use a locking stitch marker to hold the loose stitch so it didn’t get dropped. But it was an easy pattern to follow, and I love the finished piece.

img_8645I went down two needle sizes to get closer to the pattern gauge, and I used all but eight grams of my yarn, so I would recommend checking gauge if you’re making the larger DK version just to make sure you have enough yarn on hand. Normally I don’t for cowls; I just make sure I like how it’s knitting up.

It really was a perfect combo of yarn and pattern — they complement each other well and neither one overwhelms the other. This would make a perfect gift if I knew someone who loves blue, but I guess I’ll just keep it for myself!

Right on schedule

Dec14

Here it is, about a week after my last post! So apparently I have a schedule, it’s just not that frequent. But I have finished things to share today. First up are are my gift socks and they’re not exactly the same size but neither are feet, right? So we’re calling them a win. Yarn is Treasure Goddess Yarns Treasured Toes in Everglades Excursion and as nice as it was to knit with, I think the socks are going to feel awesome to wear. At least I hope so!

IMG_6324I also finally finished and blocked and photographed my Diamond Cowl. Once I committed to it, this was a fast and easy pattern, and I just love a diamond lace pattern. The yarn is Ella Rae Lace Merino Aran and it was quite scrumptious. It’s soft and smooth and has a lovely drape. I even had enough yarn to do an extra half-repeat of the lace pattern.

I have more FO’s, if you can believe it, but they’re still in the blocking/photography phases, and plus I don’t want to throw it all in at once. Maybe I’ll manage to get another post out sooner than a week!

I’m excited about knitting right now, which feels good. I’m even still excited about a couple of potential gifts I want to make, if I have time. We’re on track with gift shopping, though we haven’t started wrapping yet, and overall I’m feeling pretty good about Christmas being so close. But it’s also Saturday morning, when I’m happiest and most optimistic because the whole weekend is stretching before me, so we’ll see how I feel in a week or so. Happy weekend, friends!