Another Honey Cowl and a Class

I had the idea to knit a thank you gift for someone, but no particular plan. Then I saw this yarn at Red Purl and it didn't take me 20 seconds to decide to get it.

It's a new yarn Amy's carrying from Fleece Artist called Kidazzle. It's 70% Merino, 20% Kid (mohair) and 10% Nylon. It's a DK weight, and like a lot of stuff from Fleece Artist, the colours are outstanding. I think this colourway is Forest Fairie, but the tag isn't labeled so I'm not sure. (Pet peeve alert there, if you're listening, Fleece Artist.)

Instead of spending a lot of time looking for a pattern, I used one that I already loved and knew would be great for a variegated yarn--the Honey Cowl from Madelinetosh. Yes, this is the third one I've made, but the first one was for the shop and the second was a gift so it's not like I have a pile of them sitting in my closet.

I have to say this one flew off the needles. Partly it was because I was a little bit obsessed and partly it was because I came up with another improvement on my technique.

As before, I knit it with no purling. The problem with this method is that while you are doing the K1, slip 1 row, you are looking at the wrong side and it is hard to tell if you are supposed to be knitting or slipping. I discovered a trick to not only make this problem go away, but to make it more efficient (and thus faster) as well. Yay, me!

Once again, a slip stitch pattern does wonders for
a variegated yarn.

But it can be "yay, you!" as well. I'm going to be teaching a class at Red Purl about both of these methods in December. Talk to Amy about signing up.

The class will be offered twice: Saturday, December 10 and Thursday, December 15. You'll get all the information in either class, but if you want to come to both to review or get extra help, you can--at no extra charge.

When I dropped off this cowl at Red Purl today (as a temporary sample only), Rose was there. After our obligatory catch up about house progress (she has a door on her bathroom now--let's all be very happy for her!), we did had ourselves a nice knitting talk.

She liked the cowl but was disappointed when Mary Ann told her there was no more Kidazzle in the shop. After she had already checked out, I found a couple more skeins, including a gorgeous purple (her favourite). She had that purchased in five seconds...I honestly barely had time to finish my sentence before it was at the register being paid for! And she's committed to the class so I am looking forward to seeing her there. (Make sure to reserve your spot.)

Can I say again how much I love these colours? You can see that they did sort of pool in the pattern but because the slip stitches add an extra layer it's more like the colours flow than that they pool. I am loving the effect, whatever you may call it. I'm giving the cowl to a blond and I think the colours will look very good on her.

I was also happy with myself for knitting pretty much the entire project in continental style. I've tried that on projects previously but never been able to do it. This time I did it! I can't be sure yet if that means I've passed a Project Stats
Started: 25 Oct '11 / Finished: 5 Nov '11
Pattern: Honey Cowl by Ann Maria for Madelinetosh, free
Materials: Fleece Artist Kidazzle (Forest Fairie, I think), $24
tipping point and will continue to be comfortable in continental style or if it was just easier on this particular project. In any case, I am sure that is part of why this project went so quickly.

I have to admit I'm going to be a little sad to see this one go (even as I'll be very happy to give it). This cowl used about 2/3 of the skein, which means I have 1/3 left to use. I think I'm going to see how big a cowl I can get from it. I'm not ready to be done knitting with it yet...

Yet Another Christmas Spoiler

You know the drill--a Christmas gift is revealed in this post that hasn't been given to its recipient yet. Up to you if you want to look further or wait...

Alright, so I told you I started a gift on Christmas Eve and now I can tell you that I finished it!

The yarn is a 50/50 wool/alpaca blend (Berroco Ultra Alpaca Light). It's nice but if pressed I'd have to admit it feels a little "hairy." (Not quite "itchy," mind.) I don't think it can be worn tight around the neck, but loosely draped it feels fine.

Although the feel may be rated as average, the colour is stunning. It's called Prune Mix which is a fairly accurate description of the purple as far as words can describe colours. The "mix" part of it contains spots of yellow, bright blue, red and orange. They really are spectacular. I think you can see the little yellow fibers and maybe spots of blue in the above pic.

The pattern is the Honey Cowl that I made recently for Red Purl. This version is a little narrower and possibly a little shorter. I cast on the same number, but I did use one size smaller needle because I thought it was more appropriate for this yarn.

Because I didn't want to include a long instruction manual with the gift, I'm going to spell out the wearing options here:

1. Long scarf: one loop around the neck:

2. Cowl: two loops around the neck:

3. Folded in half, wrapped around the neck with one end looped inside the other;

4. Oh, and not pictured, is the option to wrap it over your head and then around the neck, but I only recommend that in "cold weather emergencies" as it looks a lot like a babushka.

(Not so hip these days.) But warm. So use as deemed necessary.

Well, if you're reading this, Recipient of the Scarf, I hope you like it. All the rest of you, I hope you're not too disappointed you didn't get it! That's how it goes, I guess...

Scarf of Options

I finished the Honey Cowl in good time. (It involved putting aside some holiday knitting and my grey tunic, but I am hoping to be able to make up time on those.)

The weight and texture of the cowl are very nice. It has enough stretch for something which needs to be pulled over your head. The width (about 7 inches on mine) gives you plenty of coverage around your neck without too much bulk.

I find the cowl very versatile.

The simplest way is to just hang it around your neck:

Project Stats
Started: 19 Nov '10 Finished: 23 Nov '10
Pattern: Honey Cowl by Ann Maria for Madelinetosh
Materials: Madelinetosh Pashmina (1 skein)
Good for days when the wind's not too bitter. It could be worn outside the coat (as seen here) or easily tucked inside.

You could cover the back of your head and then pull an extra loop around your neck:

Handy if the temperature drops suddenly or you have to spend a longer time outside than expected.

But I have to say my favourite way is just a double loop around the neck:

It's still not so tight as to choke you, but gives a nice bulk and heft around the neck. Probably wouldn't work inside a coat, but worn on top of a collar it works nicely.

Any way you wear it, the right and wrong side of the fabric will show. Fortunately, the "back" looks just fine. (In the picture above, the bottom-most fold shows the right side, but the next one up reveals the wrong side. Looks fine to me.)

And let me say again, this colour is just gorgeous: "Baltic Blue." I'll drown in that any day.

Showing Your Pattern Who's Boss

But before I get to the "bossy" part, let me tell you what I'm working on.

Amy, at Red Purl, asked me to knit a shop sample from the new line she's carrying: Madelinetosh. I have heard many a gushing comment on the web/Ravelry about 'Tosh so I said, why not? (I mean, I have all of 5 weeks until all my Christmas knitting has to be done, right? ::groan::)

The pattern, Honey Cowl, is designed for the Tosh DK, but Amy wanted it in the Pashmina. Fine with me, because in the Pashmina the lovely wool is blended with even lovelier cashmere and silk. (How decadent is that!)

Amy let me pick the colour; she had four. And, well, let's face it, there wasn't a bad one in the bunch. A gorgeous dark red ("Tart" I think), a goldish/redish mix "Amber trinket" (hard to describe but beautiful), a deep semi-solid blue "Baltic Blue" and a goldish colour.

Of course, she thought of me immediately when she saw the "Tart" (because of the colour, not the name!), and I did love it. But I decided on the blue. It's deep deep deep and you can get lost in it. I thought the slight variation in colour would work well with the slip stitch pattern. And after knitting a bunch up, I think I was right!

I cast on Friday night and put in some serious knitting time over the weekend. I'm at about 7 inches or so. The pattern says to go until it's 12 inches wide but Amy wants me to just knit as far as I can with one skein. We'll see how far I get.

Meanwhile, the yarn is just wonderful to work with and feels really nice. Not that super soft that makes you weak at the knees, but it feels like it will wear well and last over time.

Now, about that "bossing the pattern." Since that pattern is free and I've linked to it I don't think they'll mind if I describe the stitch pattern. Rows 1 and 3 are just plain knitting. Rows 2 and 4 alternate Purl 1 and slip one (with yarn in front).

Now purling is not so bad, but knitting is easier. And I remembered a technique I had read about once which would let me knit all the time. (I've since traced it back to a post in Fleegle's blog which I found through a link on the great TECHknitter's blog. Fleegle's blog is apparently also great but I haven't explored it much so I can't say that from personal experience.)

What is this great method?

Sorry, before we get there, let us first review a simple fact about knitting: The knit stitch and the purl stitch are the same but are reversed from front to back. In other words, a knit stitch is a purl stitch from the other side; and a purl stitch is a knit stitch from the other side. So when you are supposed to purl, if you could just work from the other side, you could knit and it would be the same thing.

Ok, now for the meat of it:

Row 1 you knit as directed. When you get to the end of the round, you are here:

The right side is facing you.

Normally you would pull the yarn in front and start purling. But what if you tried to just turn the work around and knit?

Then you are here:

The wrong side is facing you.

Now one option would be to start knitting "backwards" (from left to right) and that would get the job done. But it's slower, awkward and hard to get an even tension (for me anyway).

So what you do is work with a second yarn. See here I have the yarn I just finished knitting with on the left. And a new yarn attached on the right:

Now you can drop the first (left) yarn and just start working with the second yarn:

This has you going in the right direction and lets you "Knit 1 and slip one (with yarn in back)" instead of the "Purl 1 and slip one (with yarn in front)". When you get to the end of the round, turn your work, drop the working yarn and pick up the yarn you had dropped previously.

You go through the whole project alternating working yarns and changing directions. It works brilliantly. Since you're changing yarns every row, there's no line of carried yarn up the back and I think the "seam" is no more obvious than what it is in "regular" knitting in the round. (There's always some sort of jog in the pattern at the "end of round" changeover point.)

Why does it work?? Well knitting in the round is actually knitting in stacked "spirals." Usually all the spirals go in the same direction. (For a visual, Grumperina's diagram on this post might help.) But there's no reason you can't interlace two spirals going in different directions. That is what we're doing by turning the work over.

Simple. Ingenious. Not my idea. But I love it.