a day late... with more FOs!

I've been trying to stick to posting once a week on Sundays, but I didn't have a pic of the project I finished yesterday so you had to wait. =) Still working on Christmas projects, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel! This weekend, I finished up two more projects.

First up:

A cowl for my mother. I bought the yarn for this four years ago while working in Seattle, but then my mother actually requested something and it did not fit with this yarn. At long last, she's getting it this year... and it's out of my stash! It's a nice, cushy, long cowl that can be looped around twice for a snugger fit. She loves purple so I'm hoping she likes this. =)
(pattern & yarn details on my Ravelry project page)


And, no surprise:

 Another hat! I still have one more to go for Christmas but am having a hard time settling on a pattern. lol
(pattern and yarn details on my Ravelry project page)

Here's the stack heading to my sister's for Christmas:

Not too bad, huh? I do need to do a quick blocking on the two wool hats, but otherwise everything is ready to ship which is really good news since in this small of a space, three boxes of gifts really cuts down on the already limited free space around here! =)

Next week, you should get to see my last two planned projects... one more hat and a headband. There might even be a third, though I haven't yet decided on what that will be. lol

actual knitting!

With all this newly dyed yarn around, I finally found a little knitting inspiration!

I was tipped off by a friend to the 3-hr cowl pattern and decided to give it a go with the hank I dyed Saturday. What do you think?

I think the stitch pattern worked okay with the dye job. I did get quite a bit of pooling, but it doesn't bother me.

I'm not a fast knitter and bigger projects seem to suck the knitting mojo out of me. lol I have an alpaca blanket that may never get finished. I love what's done, but it's reeeeeeally slow going. And I have a pair of socks languishing in their bag. I also still have a crochet bag that's just a bottom at this point. None of these are calling my name. I suppose I just need instant gratification. =)

A New Knit!

I have played a little with yarn this month! I've been trying to work this into my over-scheduled life this month and didn't make it before seeing my sister on Christmas Eve so she'll be getting this tomorrow. I took a couple days completely off and worked on this two evenings while watching movies.

yarn: Lion Brand Wool-Ease in chestnut tweed

Not the best stuff around (or even in my stash), but I know my sis wouldn't hand wash and I had a ball of this in my stash that I thought would go nicely with her jacket. It works up much softer than expected.

Hopefully, it's worth the wait. This is The Very Braidy Cowl (ravelry project page). I love it! I did a provisional cast-on and then grafted the ends together to eliminate a seam... not being a fan of seams where they're not absolutely necessary. =) My kitchener stitch needs a little work so it'll be more even, but when I handed it to my mom (a knitter), she didn't find the seam until I pointed it out. heh I suppose we're always our own worst critics. My sister doesn't knit at all so I'm not expecting her to even notice. I did add an extra 4 rows between repeats 1 & 2, 3 & 4, and 5 & 6 for a total of 12 extra rows. I wanted it to still fit close enough to block drafts, but not too close so it would be more comfy and not quite so turtle-necky. Perfect! Yeah, I'm definitely making one of these for myself!

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?)