A blog about my life, knitting, and other stuff.

November 24, 2016

Collection of Cowls

I recently went on a brief cowl binge. It started when I decided to find a project to use up three skeins of vintage Cash Iroha that I bought last year at my November retreat. I usually agonize over pattern/yarn pairings. I will add a pattern to my Ravelry queue and pick a yarn to knit it with. Then I'll change my mind again and again. Eventually I lose interest in the pattern and the yarn is still unused. This time I decided to make a swift decision and knit it straightaway.

I chose Adama by Hilary Smith-Callis. It is a shawl-cowl hybrid, knit flat at first then later in the round. It fits nicely around your neck and shoulders without needing to be pinned or tied. It's a bit funny looking when not in use.

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Ignore my epic side-eye in this photo. I really like it. Cash Iroha, despite being horribly prone to breaking and pilling, is a favorite yarn of mine. And this color is lovely. The pattern was very quick and easy to knit up. Once you knit the one lace panel it's easily memorized.

Next I grabbed a few skeins of Woolfolk Får that I bought several years ago at another stash sale. The yarn is a chainette of incredibly soft merino wool. Again, without much dithering, I dove into a pattern, the Grayhaven Cowl, free on Ravelry. It's very basic. I didn't end up using as much yarn as I thought I would need so I still have a whole skein leftover.

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The yarn is heaven.

While I was at my November retreat I found a mostly-knit scarf in the "free" basket. I took it back to my room and ripped it out. The yarn was Schoppel-wolle Gradient in the In der wiese colorway. I love this yarn and love the colors. I challenged myself to knit a cowl with it in time for show and tell on the final night of the retreat.

I chose Trust Me by Louise Zass-Bangham. I've knit several of her patterns and have really enjoyed them. Trust me is a circular cowl, knit flat, with no seams. Cool trick, right? I could try to explain it to you but maybe you should just knit one yourself. The one drawback of the cowl is that it needs to be as tall as half the circumference. So it's kind of tall for a snug-fitting cowl.

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So there you have it, I've moved on from hats, for the moment, and am obsessed with cowls.


Happy Thanksgiving!


November 17, 2016

Thursday Is for What the Hell Is This?

The great Tom Lehrer once said,"Political satire became obsolete when Henry Kissinger was awarded the Nobel peace prize."

I feel rather the same at the moment. What is the point of WTHIS? when the THIS is on the COVER of Vogue Knitting.


Knit flat and then stitched together, no less! Am I being punked? I think I'm being punked.

November 10, 2016

Thursday Is for What the Hell Is This?

Dear Readers,

I realize I have been scarce lately. Luckily, something has knocked me from my stupor. I was surfing Ravelry, as one does, and saw something that made me spontaneously blurt out, "What the hell is this?" And then it struck me that I have been neglectful.

I don't think this requires much further commentary. It is a head-scratcher. And probably a nose-tickler for that matter.



The pattern is available on Ravelry should you feel the sudden urge to recreate it.

November 5, 2016

November 3, 2016