Prism Cowl and eye-candy

Happy Friday, Everyone!
Here's another WIP that's been on the back-burner until I finish a couple of holiday gifts:

It's a simple cowl that is larger on the base and will decrease a little as it's knit. I was doing garter strips that got taller as it is knit up.

I've been saving this skein for years that was gifted to me from a relative who works at a yarn shop in the Seattle area. It's very expensive yarn, and I was contemplating what I could knit that would do it (and the price) justice. Eventually, I just figured that a soft cowl would have to be good enough and to stop saving the yarn for some "worthier project."

What makes this yarn so pricey? Well, they tie several different novelty yarns, along with natural fibers together. There's even mohair in there. Word of warning though...you will see all those tied joins and it will have to be part of your knit look.

The yarn can be a little hard to work with at times, but it's a very soft knit.

It's a very large skein of yarn, so when I wound it up, I had to make two cakes.

It makes gorgeous photos though...

KUAS Podcast: Episode 5- Spring is Here!

PODCAST SHOW NOTES:

FO:
Bohemian Inspired Woven Cowl for Leah
15'' Schacht Cricket Weaving Loom

WIP:
Office Socks by Anna Maliszewski

Spinning:
430 yds of "Midnight Tide" worsted weight yarn, 2-ply, merino wool
49 yds of "Merriment" worsted weight yarn, single ply, merino

Knitter's Review: 
Boye's Yardage Counter: 3 of 5 stars
Pros: easy to use, inexpensive, "mostly" accurate
Cons: needs a better suction, produces an annoying squeaking noise

Bohemian Inspired Cowl for Leah

Shades of Gray Shawl by Anna Maliszewski

Wrap-less Short Row Shaping

"Merriment" single-ply yarn, merino wool, 49 yds

"Midnight Tides" Roving, 8oz.

Two skeins, 430 yards spun so far. Worsted weight (more or less).

I am SMITTEN. Yum, yum, yum. It makes me want to spin more! (Oh, wait, I have to! I still have 73g left to spin up of this, for a total of about 700 yds when everything is said and done.)

If you have enjoyed the podcast and such, please go to Youtube and "like," "share," and/or "comment" to spread the goodness. :) Many thanks!

Oh, and by the way...I just found out that on March 9th, my Thrummed Rainbow Mitts were featured as a favorite on Craftster.org. Sweet!

Fo: Katniss Cowl

How many times have we knit a project knowing full-well that we could run out of yarn, but proceed nonetheless?

Picture me, knitting away this week, coming all the way to the end of the pattern and running out of yarn 2 rows before the bind-off! 

You know that panic, the one where you search high and low swearing that there must be another skein somewhere upstairs.

There was some silent cursing, gnashing of teeth...

Maybe some biting of nails.

Well, not for long. Although I was pretty certain that the store had another skein in the same dye lot, I cleaned the kitchen island as usual before teaching piano lessons and lo and behold, one of those yarn angels must have dropped my very last skein there as a reward for cleaning the house for three hours. I just love when little miracles happen. It's like finding money in your jean pockets.

 Read Pt. 1 to the "Katniss Cowl"

Pattern: "Katniss Cowl"/"Hunter Cowl" by Diana Burk (Anaid Design)
(Update: the designer of this pattern is no longer allowed to sell this pattern. Sorry, I am not allowed to email you this copyrighted pattern---it's not mine to distribute!)

Needles: Size US10.5 dpns and size US35 straights

Yarn: 7.25 skeins of Lion Brand Hometown USA Tweed Yarn in "Little Rock Granite"

Start date: 11/27/13

Finish date: 12/4/13

The pattern was fairly simple. I generally only made rookie mistakes from not decreasing in the beginning of certain rows. The cowl is composed of "Herringbone Stitch" to give it that nice woven look. It's a pain to knit that stitch on size 35's with that many stitches, but the look is worth it.

The only thing I dislike about this patten is the I-cord top. It's bulky and awkard and I ended up folding one of them inside so it wasn't so tall.

However, I still stand by my belief that it looks much better than the original.

  

I look forward to strutting around in it and seeing if anyone recognizes it from the movie "Catching Fire."

Up next: Socks with an original design for my MIL and a fuzzy hat that's just off the needles. (And  maybe something quirky also, for the holidays.)

WIP: Katniss Cowl

I'm sure I'm not the only one who had this reaction, but ever since I sat down in the movie theaters and watched Katniss from "Catching Fire" walk around the big screen in that woven cowl, I knew I had to make one of my own. I scoured the internet for photos, and came across a knitting pattern by Anaid Designs that was even better looking than the original. Every day that passes by, I see more and more buzz about this movie design and Ravelers scrambling to cast on their own. You could almost say that this pattern is "catching fire." Ha ha, good one. I know.

(Update: the designer of this pattern is no longer allowed to sell this pattern. Sorry, I am not allowed to email you this copyrighted pattern---it's not mine to distribute!)

The pattern starts off with three humongous I-cords knit with size 11's ( I did 10.5), sewing the I-Cords together and then knitting the cowl with US35 needles!  I had to make a couple of special trips to obtain these materials. 35's are hard to come by. I wish I could have found circular needles to these. My other gripe is that I dislike the monotonous knitting of the I-Cord for what usually feels like thousands of inches, and this one was no easier, as it forces you to double strand the yarn on size 11's. Three times. In the original design, the top portion of the cowl is crocheting around rope (or some sort of rope-like material). Maybe garter rows with stockinette divisions would have been more yarn conservative, as well as reduce a little bit of the bulkiness?

"Retrospect update:" after finishing this project, I do not enjoy the bulkiness of the I-cord top. Maybe going with the crocheted rope would be best!

If you read about the original design, it was hand-woven by a couple of people within a week or so (psst, it really looks like it was knit in Herringbone Stitch, which is why Aniaid Designs decided to take that route). You can read more about the Hunger Games and the designs on Capitol Couture.

However, if my project looks anything like the designer's, it will be well worth it. I choose a colorway called "Granite" because it's much richer in depth. I think the Herringbone stitch will really pop in the brown tweed color. All I have left to do is knit the "drape" portion of the cowl and sew up the seam.

Have you seen the movie yet? I believe I like it even better than the first movie. It's pretty rare for a sequel to exceed the the original. I plan on re-reading the Hunger Games trilogy again as well.

See the finished "Katniss Cowl" HERE.