Free Cowl Pattern

I decided to get my hair cut on the spur of the moment. Since it would be my last visit to my hairdresser before Christmas, I wanted to give her a gift. But what?

I browsed the shelves at my LYS and found a bulky weight yarn I really liked—Plymouth Yarn “Multiplicity.” At first I thought it would make a nice scarf, but then I opted for a cowl—a little more style than a plain scarf.

I didn’t have time to search my books and Ravelry to find a pattern, so I just cast on and started knitting. It came out great, only took a few hours to finish, and my hairdresser absolutely loved it. So I figured I’d share the ultra-simple pattern with you! Enjoy.

BULKY COWL

One size fits all

1 skein Plymouth “Multiplicity” yarn in color 3167 or your choice

1 pair size 15 knitting needles

Cast on 20 stitches.

Pattern: K1, *K2tog, YO. Repeat from * to last stitch, K1.

Work in pattern until you’ve used up all or nearly all the yarn, and ending with a stripe of the opposite color than you started with.

Bind off. Flip one end over to put a twist in the cowl; sew or crochet ends together.

Can be worn around the neck, or pulled up over the head as a hood.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Knitting

I'll bet, like me, you're up to your eyeballs in Christmas knitting. That makes this time of year fun...and dangerous.

Dangerous? Because you can't talk about your knitting or you might let something slip. Can't show it off to the wrong person. And you certainly can't post a picture of your progress on your knitting blog!

I've never been the best at keeping secrets so I'll say I'm making a ______ for ________, a ________ for ________, and ________s for the ________s.

There! I feel so much better now that's off my chest.

What Christmas knitting can you talk about...and what do you have to keep mum?

Blogging with Windows Live Writer

I’m trying out Windows Live Writer to blog. Since I have several blogs, I figured I’d check to see if this was easier.

First, you have to set up all the blogs you want to use by providing the website URL, user name and password. Then you can create a blog post and just click “Publish” and it does the rest. The blog you wrote stays on the screen until you close it, so if you want to post it more than one spot, there’s no cutting and pasting or rewriting involved.

Adding photos is easy, too. Here’s one of some semi-recent knitting:

I adjusted the photo using Windows Live Photo Gallery, just using the auto-correct feature, and it did make the colors stand out more.

I’m sure there are features I haven’t found yet. Anyone have any tips? I do like the ease of posting to more than one blog.

Tied Up

I've been all tied up too! But I hope to have new knitting content to post soon.

What I'm Knitting

Now that I've had a cortisone injection, I'm working my way back up to knitting a normal amount again. (Normal = a lot.)

First, I'm nearly done with the Penelope Blouse by Oat Couture. It's coming along great, I just have to finish the lace edging on one armhole and it's finished.

Two things. First, I'm knitting on that edging rather than knitting separately and sewing on. The latter leaves a real possibility there might be too much lace, or too little, when I reach the end of sewing. And second, I hate weaving in ends!

Second, as you can see in the picture, the neckline rolls, due to being stockinette with no ribbing. I'm not positive I like that. I know it's fashionable, but heck, I'm not. I considered doing the same lace edging around the neck, but realized it would flop down as it's about an inch. I don't want to choose a different edging that might work better but wouldn't match the rest of the sweater. So I may just leave it as is.

I hope to have it done in time to take on vacation. Hubby says, "You're going to wear a sweater in the summer? You're crazy. It'll be too hot."

I said, "But it's cotton. That's a summer fabric."

He said, "Cotton, schmotton, it's as heavy as a sweater."

So we left it at that. I guess only time will tell!

As if I don't have enough shawl yarn on hand, or shawls begun, I ordered two more shawl kits from Knit Picks this week.

First, the Seasons Shawl Kit in the spring and summer colors. The shawl has a rainbow of colors, which makes it casual rather than dressy, and it should go with any color I choose to wear. I especially like the graceful scalloped edging.

Second is the Baltic Lace Kit. It includes enough yarn for two shawls: the 60" x 50" Karukell Shawl, and either the 8½"x 60" Catkin Scarf or the 20" x 60" Catkin Stole. Both are Estonian patterns, the Catkin a bit simpler and more straightforward, but I don't think I'll have trouble with either one.

Then, as if all that weren't enough, while at my knitting group at my LYS, I picked up a copy of Socks From the Toe Up from Wendy Knits. I've knit a number of pairs of socks from the top down, but I've always wanted to try toe up. Great instructions and lots of lovely patterns; I especially like the Butterfly Socks with a delicate lace pattern.

There! I think that will keep me busy. What are YOU working on?

That Spill

Too funny not to share!

Mother's Day Sheep & Wool

As usual, I went with my two daughters to the annual New Hampshire Sheep & Wool Festival. This year we went on Saturday instead of Sunday for a change. It was pouring rain...sigh. But we still had a great time and came home with lots of goodies. Here's what I picked up.

First, this lovely turned wood shawl pin, created by Cynthia Ellis at Wood by C. She had a display of the most gorgeous shawl pins, crochet hooks, knitting needles, pens, thimbles, seam rippers, and just about every kind of little gadget and gizmo you could imagine, all beautifully turned and dyed. This shawl pin is smooth as glass and will make a perfect accent to my hand-knit shawls.

Next is two 600-yard skeins of "All Wool Lace Twist" lace yarn from Ball and Skein in the shade called "Lupine." It's absolutely gorgeous, subtly changing shades of purple and will make a gorgeous shawl. They had so much beautiful lace yarn, it was tough to narrow it down! I bought some of their Arequipa alpaca and silk lace yarn last year, so this year I'm giving their 100% wool a try. Now I just have to find the perfect pattern.

Then came four 300-yard skeins of "Little Breeze," which is silk and merino lace-weight yarn from A Touch of Twist. The colourway is called "Channel." Not sure what that means. But it's a stunning fuchsia shade, which is my absolute favorite color. (I was the kid who always wanted the "magenta" crayon out of the crayon box.) Again, it will make a wonderful shawl, light and warm and colorful!

Last but not least is a huge, 1400-yard hank of 50% merino, 50% tencel gorgeous purple yarn from Ellen's Half Pint Farm. It's not labeled as to weight, but it looks like either heavy lace yarn or perhaps sock/fingering weight. The color is a solid purple, but the tencel gives it a beautiful sheen that makes it look subtly variegated.

My two daughters each bought yarn and other goodies, including pattern books, kits, and a "learn to spin with a spindle" kit, each one choosing colors that suited her best. They know I always head straight for the pinks and purples. ;-) We had a lovely time, despite being constantly wet. We stopped for a late lunch on the way home, then had a celebratory dinner at home with Dan/Dad/Grandpa and the grandchildren. All in all, a marvelous day, despite being duck weather!

Hope That Yarn Wasn't Expensive....

because Kitty here sure intends to have it for lunch!



Source: LOL Cats

A Bigger Purse...Or Is It?

For the past year or two, this purse has been my usual winter purse. I like the shape, and the colors were something I envisioned in my sleep. (Not for a purse, though...for a sweater. But since they're not my usual colors, I chickened out in real life and went for something smaller and less of an investment in time and money.)

But I've had trouble finding things in the purse. It could be because it's not large enough overall; or it could be because the top is smaller than the bottom. In any case, I decided a new purse was in order. I found a pattern I liked and chose the yarn, and naturally couldn't resist casting on for the Mitred Stripes Felted Bag right away.

So here's the finished bag, and I'm pretty pleased with how it came out. It used two different yarns, Malabrigo and Noro Kureyon, neither of which had I tried before. I was surprised how scratchy Kureyon was, given all the raves I'd heard about it. It wasn't fun to knit with texture-wise, but I did like the colors. They blended nicely with the Malabrigo, which was soft and luscious-feeling in the hands.

The purse felted nicely, both yarns felting to the same degree. When it was dry, I added the buttons and then measured it against the older purse. Much to my dismay, it was a bit smaller at the bottom, though a bit larger at the top. "Oh well," I sighed, "It can't be any worse than the one I'm using." So I pulled all my necessities out of the old purse and put them in the new one.

To my surprise, while they fit about as tightly as in the old purse, they are much more accessible and easily grabbed. I suppose it's because the top of the purse is a bit wider. In any case, it feels a little more convenient, and I love the colors and design much more than the older one. Is it true love, or just the lure of the new?

In any case, I'm happy. How about you? Do you fall in love with each new project and shunt aside the old, or do you save your love for only the fortunate few?