FO's and knitting time?

Every time I post here, I think "Wow, has it been a long time or what?"... I think parenting does this to you. I spent quite awhile trying to figure out life again, and suddenly, my photography business exploded. So maybe I'm cameraexploder, too, now... Anyway, things have been hectic!

Remember how I made that cute little blue baby sweater? Someone fit in it one day:

Then the next? Not so much!

Now that he's nearly 5 months old, I've finally found time to knit again. I'm working away on a sweater project (on the last sleeve, in fact, so I should be done in, oh, another four thousand years)... And I've just finished this cowl, which I've been meaning to knit for myself forever:

It's called Foolproof, and it really is a fantastic pattern. You knit the cowl flat, if you can imagine. There's a lot of turning your work, but no purling, no casting on (unless you count one stitch) and no binding off (unless you count a K3TOG and thread the end. With limited nights to work on it, I still managed to get it done in 16 days. Fast and great for TV knitting. 

I used Wollmeise twin (fingering weight) yarn on this project, with size 6 needles. Basically, it's the drapiest, squooshiest thing ever, and will be great for fall weather. I'm happy with how it turned out, and can't wait to wear it. I think it'll look good with some black skinny jeans and a denim jacket. A little biker-y. 

Anyway, I missed this! I wonder if anyone is still out there, reading. Are you? Perhaps I should give out more yarn? ;)

- YX

FO: Big red cowl

Big needles, giant yarn, and we have a cowl:

It's a monster. And really cute double-wrapped:

This yarn (Lion Brand Hometown USA) isn't the fanciest or most expensive stuff on the block, but it will withstand football tailgates, washing and drying, and anything else a college kid can get into. 

The texture isn't bad, either, and it's super soft, as acrylic tends to be:

As soon as I took these snaps, it was off in the mail to its new home! So long, cowl!
- YX

Giant Red Cowl

I started babysitting when I was 13. It was more of a mother's helper gig at first, entertaining the kids while mom and dad got housework done. As time went on, though, I did more and more, until suddenly, I was leaving for college. 

And now, the one who was just 3 when I first met her, has started her first classes in college, herself. Wow. 

So she contacted me to ask if I could knit a big ol' red cowl for her, I was happy to oblige. This is the photo she sent:

It looks to me like a simple ribbed cowl, but then look at the bottom bit... Is that reverse stockinette stitch?

I could easily do a simple ribbed cowl, but why not at least look at some potential projects? There's the Infinitude Scarf by Jeni Chase: 

Tante Ehm's Northern Loop: 

Or do I go ahead and stick with the standard ribbed cowl, something like Mallory Cowl by Shannon Cook:

What do you think? I picked up some red, bulky yarn and have the giant needles to go with it...

- YX

Queued

I owe you guys a FO post... I finished a hat recently, but I need to take photos, so stay tuned to (tomorrow?) for those.

I've happened upon some lovely new things for my queue, recently. Some have come from the new Recommendations feature on Ravelry. If you go to http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/recommended, custom patterns will pop up for you! I'm sure most of you have already found this, and I don't tend to look at mine so often, but perhaps I should. I tend to rely more on my Ravelry friend network to expose me to greatness.

Cookie A. has won me over with Slide, a geometric sock pattern. I normally don't look twice at sock patterns, opting to knit plain socks as infrequently as possible, but these really catch me. At $6.50, the price seems steep (I've bought whole cardigan patterns for that amount!), but I find myself looking through the finished projects quite happily.

Fantome cowl, by Anne Kuo Lukito, is a gorgeous cowl project that has so much potential for color exploration. Unlike the plethora of traditional cowls on Ravelry, this has great graphic panels and looks like something I might pick up at Nordstrom. A pretty, giftable little thing.

Finally, I'm utterly in love with SC.1. Alison Brookbanks has managed to make a sweater similar to the things I'm always knitting for myself, but unique enough to be worth the effort. Imagine knitting this in a neutral and putting super neon camis under it. Love love love:

We're almost halfway through February! Get some lovely wool wash and balm in my giveaway!
- YX

FO: A giant honkin' cowl

During the re-graft shuffle I was doing on my Pinktada, I took a brief break to address the Araucania Liwen I had in my stash:

Back in January, I wrote about this yarn and how I felt kind of sad that I had nothing to do with it. It's pretty enough, but just so thick and thin that the fabric was going to be difficult. I thought the answer was possibly a bulky shrug, and I had a few options. 

I pulled the yarn out of my stash again and began looking at it. It seemed kind of odd, after all, to do such a warm shrug with no sleeves. When I get cold, my arms are the first thing to respond, so maybe it wasn't so smart to make a whole garment that would only be wearable when I could go sleeveless. I guess I could layer it over a long-sleeved tee, but it somehow seemed an awkward prospect. 

So I did what pretty much anyone else would assume to do with the yarn: I started a cowl. 

This is the Mid-December Easy Knit Infinity Scarf by A Crafty House. The pattern's free, and very simple. Although it looks like a straightforward rib in the photo above, it's actually a broken rib that gives a different texture to both sides. I love the versatility of large cowls like this... Most people think to wear them as shown above, but what about as a shawl?

Worn this way, you also get a great stripe of texture across the back:

I love the coloring of the yarn... No pooling, emphasizes the texture of the yarn, and reminds me of seaglass. Or Easter eggs. I loved the yarn in the skein, so this was a great way to retain the handpainted feel of the yarn, which tends to get lost on more complex stitch patterns. Here's a close up:

The pattern calls for a 24", #19 needle, which I happened to have laying around thanks to my mother-in-law, who gifted me with a bunch of large needles on her last visit. I knocked this out in one tv session, and it was a glorious therapy to recover from the frustrations of ripping out the Pinktada graft (woven-in ends and all). Sometimes you just need the satisfaction of finishing something. 

I'd pair this cowl with a white tank or boyfriend tee and black leather pants. For the dissonance. It'd also make a great companion for the plain little cocktail dresses I tend to accumulate. It'd give them some much-needed visual interest. 

There's enough fabric that I can make the front and back both drape without it falling off my shoulders, which is kind of pretty, too: 

- YX

(PS: bulky stuff not your style? How about some socki maki?)

Queued: Pinctada

I was on Pinterest a bit earlier this week, when I came across a pretty crossover wrap vest image that I repinned to my knit board. The pin took me to Etsy, where the creator of the garment was selling the finished garment, with a request to not copy or use the design. I can respect that, but I really enjoyed the concept, which seemed to consist of a super long cowl that was worn in a way similar to Sarah Dallas's Affric Cape:

Except instead of ties at the end, it's just a continuous loop of one width.

I went searching for a cowl that I could lengthen to produce a similar project, and found Pinctada, a beautiful cabled cowl by Angela Button:

This cowl is so elegant and beautiful, and I was drawn to it immediately. I love the large, braided cable motif in the middle, which is more complex than the rope and spine cables I've done in the past. It'll be a fun challenge!

The other thing that I really like about this pattern is the attention to edging:

The edges aren't just a slipped stitch, garter edge, or a ribbed edge. The layering of knits and purls and those pretty little chains make for a substantial foundation that compliments the weight of the main motif without fighting against it.

Now to take some measurements and figure out how long it'll need to be. The pattern calls for a sport, but I have a ton of worsted cotton that would make this a good match with a plain tank for spring knitting.

Or perhaps I'll look in the blue family and try something new... I need a companion piece for the Brownstone I'm working on (WIP post coming soon), so this wrap sweater may be the ticket!

Have you entered my yarn giveaway yet? All you have to do is fave a Plum Street Fibers colorway on etsy and comment to tell me about it! I'll pick a winner on the last day of the month!
- YX

Queued: Pei

I have two lovely skeins of Jade Sapphire 2-ply 100% cashmere that I scored at a big yarn sale a few months back... I bought the two skeins with twin projects in mind: something for my grandmother and Andrew's grandmother.

Looking through my queue,  I stumbled onto Michele Wang's Pei.

I love the balance of smooth and textured area on this piece, and the attention to detail with the edgings. It's beautifully proportioned, too... Not too bulky or too thin for the lace pattern scale and fabric weight. 

I think it will knit up beautifully in lace weight, even though the pattern calls for a sock weight yarn. It'll have a bit more drape, but downsizing the needles just a bit should help with that.

What I really love about the piece is the timeless, sophisticated look of the FO. Classy and works well with casual or more formal styles. Now, the question is... When will I have time to cast on?

- YX

Queued: BIGsessories

I love big, bulky accessories-- they're a great way to dress for the season without sweating when you finally get inside. I love my textured tunic, but the truth is that it's rarely cold enough to warrant pulling it out of the old knit bin.

So I have not just one, but TWO! awesome bigsessories for you.

I love a project that plays off of feminine facial features, and Eveli Kaur's Starflower does that so well. It's rustic and roomy and just the right kind of textural for the yarn.

I love the pairing of this with a leather jacket; there's a vintage feel to it. The pattern calls for Gedifra Highland Alpaca, which is a super bulky weight yarn that comes in a large array of colors... and is on sale at Jimmy Beans right now, coincidentally. I love the neutrals, but I might be tempted to use a teal yarn, too.

The pattern is $3.50, too, which makes me happy. All of Eveli's patterns are super cute and reasonably priced, which preys on my impulse-buy weaknesses. I want this hat, yo. Plain and simple.

The OTHER thing I queued was this big, sexy Marshmallow Fluff cowl, by Sarah Kraly. I want to put my face on it:

Yeah, just like that! FACE COWL!

How gorgeous is this thing? It looks like a five-second knit, in Classic Elite Twinkle Soft Chunky... But how does this photo make the yarn seem like it's a silk blend?! It's 100% wool, so I assume it'll pretty much save me from freezing high in the mountains of Houston*. Looking through the FO page, I'm drawn mostly to the solid projects, as opposed to the multis or semis. What a perfect gift opportunity, too! I love it! Big cowls are so hot this season, and I might be inclined to triple the length on this one and make it a mobius scarf, which I would wrap around my face about eighty times before passing out blissfully on a fainting couch, awash in my own fabulousness. Stop looking at me like that!

Simple knits in big yarns are so incredibly sexy, and have a wonderful way of contrasting with smaller knits to give textural variety without turning into the yarn monster. I definitely wouldn't wear these two items together, but they'd be amazing individually.

Yarn choices? Leave 'em in the comments!
- YX


*Houston is not freezing nor does it have mountains, but you catch my drift.