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

Wall decor: knitterly pride

Who hasn't seen the fifty billion renditions of the "Keep Calm (Something) On" posters over the past year or so? I was thinking about ways to add more yarn references to my house, and it seemed like the only option I had was one of these ubiquitous posters. Harumph. 

So I did some shopping. 

The first thing I found was this fabulous eye chart-inspired piece. I love the vintage feel of the chart, combined with the knitting references. At $20, it seems like a great art piece for a reasonable cost. 

Next is this great Red Cross poster. Also $20, I love the old-school war propaganda look, and the colors are fabulous. Not to mention, the yarn looks luscious. 

Or, you could go a little more three-dimesional. I've seen about fifteen million yarn-wrapped letters on Etsy and Pinterest, but I really love these yarn letters on Etsy, which are wild and interesting, and could make a great wall installation. 

I love yarny housewares! Do you have anything on your house/craft room walls that you want to share?

- YX

Slowing down

I haven't been posting much due to a resurgence of work contracts and a substantial bout of illness... What an August!

I'm still queuing things, at least. And slowly working on my worsted sweater, which isn't very promising, as I haven't even gotten to the sleeve separation yet. Regardless, there's something on the needles, so that's a relief.

Anyway, here's some stuff I've queued:

On the Grass is a Joji sweater. The pattern page has some lovely interpretations, my favorite being this one by Rav user jettshin. If you haven't checked out jettshin's projects, you are absolutely missing some of the best needlework on the internet. She's like lightning, too. I have no idea how she finishes so many test items so quickly.

To continue the grass theme, I also love this slouchy Grassroots hat by Dandilion Girl Designs- a very simple toque/beanie with a cute little leaf pattern. Nothing particularly standout about the design, I just think it's a very nice combination of design elements, executed well.

Finally, I have Harbinger by LondonLeo, which is an incredibly wearable shawl with simple, geometric design elements. The angora/merino Lion Brand suggested looks fabulous in the sample, and makes me want to knit this immediately.

Yum. Too bad "winter" won't start here for another two months!
- YX

The Mystery Worsted

Okay, so I was in Florence last May, and went to a lovely little yarn store called Campolmi Roberto Filati, which I found via Nicky Epstein. It's a lovely store, large and chock full of fibery goodness. The language barrier was noticeable until an English-speaking employee stepped in to help translate.

I should've bought some cashmere- we picked up a sweater quantity of cashmere yarn for my mother-in-law, who celebrated her birthday just before our trip. When the yarn lady quoted me a price for the cashmere, I started laughing. I couldn't help it! It was about 50% of the cost of similar-quality cashmere in the US. So inexpensive. It was about the same as a regular skein of superwash.

I picked up only two things, but I made them count. Both are GIANT skeins of worsted yarn, dyed in the shop.

These skeins are LITERALLY as big as my head. They're huge. 400g (14oz) of worsted yarn. It's probably close to 1,000 or so yards each.

I love the colors, which have some abrupt changes. The grey skein goes from light to dark smoothly on one side, but has a dark line on the other. It's super odd, in a cool way. I tried casting on for a "huge shawl of indeterminate size", but ended up ripping it out when I decided that I was wasting a great opportunity for a gargantuan sweater.

Yep, a worsted sweater, even though it's currently 103°F (39.4°C) here.

Yep, a worsted sweater, even though I just finished a sweater project and determined I needed a break from major garments.

Yep, a worsted sweater, instead of cracking into any of the various other yarns I have in my stash, doing a lovely little hat or a pair of super-bulky-fun-fur-electric-house-stomper socks.

What is wrong with me? Seriously?!

- YX