Wrapped in love

Or at least alpaca and bamboo. =)

Last winter, a friend saw my then newly-knit fingerless gloves and asked for a pair so we went off in search of some great yarn while working in Portland. She picked up two skeins of Qina from Mirasol Yarn, a blend of alpaca and bamboo, in a beautiful charcoal grey. I haven't been knitting much this year so the yarn has been sitting, unloved, for much too long. Now that the temps are starting to drop (everywhere but here apparently), I thought it was time to pull this out and give it a go.

This weekend I finished off a few of my older projects that sat unfinished far too long, with this project as a bit of incentive. I didn't want to start anything new with all the old stuff still sitting there. Mission accomplished and guilt abated. =) So after finishing the others, I cast on the pair of delayed fingerless mitts for my friend on Sunday.... finishing Monday. This yarn is so yummy! Soft and warm. I think they'll be well-received. The pattern I chose, Fetching, knit up incredibly quickly and took only one full skein and just a bit from skein two for the second thumb. They weigh exactly 50g though so had I been careful, I could have used just the one skein after all, but I had fears of running out on that second thumb and having to pick back. heh

Love the picot bind-off!

Since we didn't have a specific pattern in mind all those months ago, she purchased two skeins of this luxurious-feeling yarn. Still having almost a full skein left, I decided I wanted to make something else cozy to go with the mitts. Using the cable pattern used on Fetching, I worked up a pattern for a small cowl/neck warmer with a button closure but didn't like the way it was coming out halfway through so I reworked it into a circular cowl instead and started over. Had to resize it halfway through and start over, but I'm pretty pleased with the results.

Here are the details for A Fetching Cowl:

Yarn is DK weight, size 6 needles (a set of dpns will work, but a 16" circ makes it even quicker!)

Gauge: 25 st and 26 rows to 4" (worked in rib pattern, unstretched of course)

Finished measurements: @17" around and @5" tall (again, unstretched, the rib allows plenty of room to pass over the head)

CO = cast on

BO = bind off

PM = place marker
st = stitches
K = knit
P = purl

C4F = transfer 2 st to cable needle, hold to front of work, K2, K2 off cable needle

C4B = transfer 2 st to cable needle, hold to back of work, K2, K2 off cable needle

CO 110 st in a stretchy CO (I used the cable cast-on)

PM and join in the round.

Round 1 (R1): *K4, P1*, repeat to end of round

Repeat R1 until just before the halfway point. If using my measurements, repeat until your cowl reaches just shy of 2 1/2". (I did this by weight since I was working with a small amount of yarn and wanted to get the most out of it - just weigh the remainder of the ball you're working from and work your cable round when you have a little over half left.)

Cable round: *C4B, P1*, repeat 10 more times, *C4F, P1*, repeat 10 more times.

Repeat R1 for another 2 1/4" (or adjust if you've made yours smaller or bigger).

P 1 round. (This will help a bit with the cowl wanting to roll and make it match if you've used the cable cast-on.)

BO in your favorite stretch manner. Weave in ends. =)

Resizing the pattern -For a larger or smaller cowl, simple add or subtract your CO stitches by multiples of 5 and adjust your cable round to suit your CO number. A multiple of 10 CO stitches will result in an even number of cables leaning right and left, but no one will notice if there aren't an even amount!

Perfect as a set! (And ridiculously quick to knit! Hmm, Christmas gifts anyone?)