Tag Archive | cowls

Finally Finished: ToshDK Honey Cowl

Whee, I’m in a finishing phase! Since finishing the wedding wrap, I’ve been on a roll. I finished a lingering scarf for a holiday order, I finished two sports-related earwarmers for friends, and I finished another Princess Anna hood. It feels so good to get some projects done.

After finishing so many little projects, I needed something simple for my waiting room knitting (I have lots of that kind of time) and came across another languishing project: my Madelinetosh Honey Cowl. The pattern is super simple, and it was so close to being done, that I decided I needed to just power through to the end. An hour later I was binding off, last night I wove in ends, and today was picture day. I’m in love with this cowl and it’s going nowhere but around my own neck. The yarn is actual Madelinetosh that I bought at Looped Yarn Works in Washington, D.C. My LYSs don’t carry Madelinetosh, so it was the first time I’d seen it, and at $22 a skein it was a pretty big splurge for me. But it was worth it. The colors are gorgeous, and the yarn feels luscious: it’s soft but springy, and knit up in this stitch the fabric is dense but still lightweight. It’s just fantastic, and I’ll definitely be making another Honey Cowl even if I can’t do it in Madelinetosh.

The relief I felt at finishing a WIP inspired me to pull out another one, so I’ve started on the second of a pair of seed stitch mitts that might end up being a Christmas present. As for waiting room knitting, well, I ended up starting something new. The life of a knitter or crocheter, right? Your pile of WIPs never really goes down!

Progress Made (and a new WIP)

Sep12

Yesterday was quiet and cool, so I spent much of the day on the couch with my yarns. I managed to frog the striped hat from yesterday’s post, so it’s all ready for a redo. I’m waiting until after I open my birthday presents, though, just in case there’s a set of interchangeable 16″ needles in one of them. (*fingers crossed*) I also worked for a while on my Quadratic shawl, and I cannot wait until it’s done and I can wear it. After lunch, I pondered the many WIPs I have, and the projects I need to complete soon, and I decided I could cast on for just one more. It’s for someone I like (okay, all my knitting is for someone I like) plus it’s an unusual project for me. It’s called the Spring Lace Infinity Scarf and with any luck, it will end up looking like this.

Spring Lace Infinity Scarf by Linda Thach. copyright Purl Avenue

This is fingering weight yarn (i.e. very skinny, i.e. not bulky at all, which is what I normally use) and it’s a lace pattern. It will end up being open and delicate and lovely (I hope) but it will knit slowly and will take much time and attention to detail. I managed to get through the casting on of 360(!!!) stitches and knitting of five rows. This is what it looks like so far. So yeah, it will be slow going on this one, but I think it will be delightful. I’ll probably spend some time on this today … or maybe I’ll spend the morning reading my new book!

Make a new project, finish an old one

Aug26

Crafters have it bad. They’re always thinking of new things they want to make. They look at supplies and their brains light up with possibilities. It’s great to have all the ideas, but it does sometimes make it hard to get projects completed. I have seven WIPs but that doesn’t stop me from starting more. I’ve had some purple LaFurla yarn in my stash for months, but as soon as I got some purple Plymouth Yarn Baby Alpaca Grande to go with it, I’ve been dying to make another furry cowl. It finally got to be too much and a couple of days ago I broke down and cast on. I finished it that day (I *never* finish projects in a day) and love it! The furry yarn was kind of a pain to knit with. It doesn’t like to knot when you finish it off, and heaven forbid you drop a stitch: I don’t know if you’d ever find it! It’s worth it, though.

I know, the last picture is terrible. I’m sorry. I wanted a photo showing how nicely it drapes, and a selfie with my phone was my option.

Once that was done, I was happy, and I could switch back to a WIP. I decided to finish the Chiefs fingerless gloves for my friend, since I knew one mitt would go quickly. And it did. I got it knit in the morning and wove in tails last night. They’re fun. I like the reversed colors, I think. Not what I had in mind, but it works.

Having finished two projects in as many days, I thought I deserved to start another one. So last night during the Emmys, I finally cast on for the Honey Cowl, the Madelinetosh pattern that keeps catching my eye on Ravelry and that I tried to cast on twice already. This time it worked, and I’m six rows in. And that Madelinetosh DK yarn is a delight to knit with too. Now let’s see how long it takes me to finish it!

Knit along if you know what Happiness is to you

Aug9

Whew. After a few really crazy weeks, I finally have time to catch my breath and post a few pictures of my latest projects. With a lot of kid activities and back-to-school stuff happening right now, my yarn is all that’s keeping me sane! So this is a photo-heavy post–I need a lot of help to stay sane right now. I had another request for girl/doll hats, but this time in blue. After that, I had another set to make, but it was a little trickier. She wanted the cowboy style (only more like a fedora) but she wanted it for a girl and doll, and before I’d only made that style in the doll size. I searched for a good pattern, and went through three of them and wasn’t happy with any of them. I even bought a pattern! But they were all wrong in some way. Either they were too small or the wrong shape or they were too floppy.

Finally, I went back to the original hat pattern and modified it to fit a child. (*fingers crossed* She hasn’t received the hats yet.) I doubled the yarn, went up two hook sizes, and kept increasing by about 20 stitches. I do like how it came out; it’s soft but still holds a shape somewhat. I just hope I made it deep enough for her head. If not, I’ll be making another attempt!

We celebrated my niece’s birthday this weekend, and I got to make her a couple of things too. She loves stuffed animals, so I crocheted a little cardigan for her Hello Kitty doll to wear. It went so fast, and it’s super cute.

I also made her a hat of her own. She’d seen me making the purple one, and kept telling me how much she liked it, so I worked up a blue version for her. I used a single strand of a bulky yarn, with some wool instead of all acrylic, and I wasn’t happy with the end result. It came out floppier than I wanted, and today I discovered that it’s too small for her. (*insert sad face here*) However, it looks adorable on my nephew, so I might just make another, bigger one for her.

Finally, I was done with all those hats! With no pressing yarny needs and a sore wrist from crocheting, it was time for fat yarn and knitting needles. I picked up my indigo Cascade Magnum and my size 19 needles and made a Marian twisted cowl.

I think that’s all. Ok, not really, I also made an adorable Christmas present but can’t show it off yet. Darn it. I do love it, too. And now I think I will be working on some more Christmas presents because I ordered a bunch of stuff in the Knitpicks summer sale and I have this fun box of yarn to play with now!