cosmic skyp socks

Happy Leap Day! Waving goodbye to February is always a cause for celebration since it is my least favorite month of the year. Today was beautiful with temps in the mid-50's and the sun shining brightly. I can almost feel the approach of Spring and have been daydreaming of what will be growing in the garden this coming season. Also spent a happy hour looking over the new spring issue of PomPom Quarterly and browsing the shawl patterns on Ravelry. I want to reward myself with some new projects now that February Finish is coming to a close. And what better way to end it than by wearing a brand new pair of skyp socks. I had a lot of fun pairing up the knitpicks Hawthorne Speckles yarn with a coordinating Stroll Brights blue for the cuffs, heels & toes. These socks were my winter comfort knitting and will always bring to mind blizzards, snow days & Bowie on repeat. Now onwards to March!

stopover

2 weeks from cast on to bind off! Talk about fast. And totally unplanned for. The fun idea to #BangOutASweater was the brainchild of Kay & Ann from the always witty Mason-Dixon Knitting blog. The beautifully written pattern is from the ever stylish Mary Jane Mucklestone. I mainly posted about my progress on Instagram, where you can also see lots of inspiring Stopovers-in-progress as well as #bangfinishers (gosh how did we ever live without hashtags?!?). The yarn is lettlopi & all three of the main colors (oatmeal, brown & rose) are from deep stash. It has been many years since I have knitted with lettlopi. I had forgotten how beautiful and unusual a yarn it is. Rustic but blooms like a flower after blocking. Warm but light as air. This was my first time knitting a lopapeysa and I highly recommend Stopover for Icelandic sweater newbies like me. Very clear instructions and easy colorwork. I also love how Mary Jane included waist shaping so that the sweater has a very modern look to it. She also went rogue with the gauge which she explains here. I can't wait to try this same easy gauge technique on Dalur. Another 2 week sweater perhaps? I could easily get addicted to that!

I couldn't decide on a single pop color so I used three!

lichen cowl

I was recently given the fun opportunity to try out a skein of Big Squeeze by Ancient Arts Yarn, a bulky weight 3-ply superwash merino whose name fits it to a t: squishy soft and squeezable from skein to fabric. The yarn is available in many beautiful hand-dyed colors. It also held up extremely well to my repeated swatching and frogging as I was obsessed with finding the perfect stitch pattern to highlight this beautiful Inuit Art colorway. After settling on the wild oats pattern, it was just a matter of time before I was sporting my new cowl. Isn't knitting with bulky yarn super fast and fun? The colors in this skein totally reflect the island that I call home, especially in wintertime. Moody greys & blues of the Chesapeake Bay interplay with the greens, browns, golds & purples of the wetland plants & flowers. I will be joyfully wearing this cowl on my winter hikes on the cross island trail.

 

To knit your own lichen cowl, you will need:

*1 skein of Big Squeeze
*16 inch circular needle size 10.5 (6.5mm) or size required to obtain gauge
*Cable needle
*Gauge in stockinette stitch = 4 stitches per inch
*Finished dimensions = 20 inch circumference x 8.5 inches tall

3x1 ribbing: *knit 3, purl 1*

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Wild Oats pattern stitch: (multiple of 4 stitches)
rounds 1 & 2: *k2, slip 1 stitch purlwise with yarn in back, k1*
round 3: *slip 2 stitches onto cable needle & hold in back, k1, k2 from cable needle, k1*
round 4: knit to end of round, remove marker, knit 1 stitch, replace marker.
rounds 5 & 6: *k1, slip 1 stitch purlwise with yarn in back, k2*
round 7: *k1, slip 1 stitch onto cable needle & hold in front, k2, k1 from cable needle*
round 8: knit to 1 stitch before end of round, slip stitch purlwise to right needle, remove marker, move slipped stitch back to left needle, replace marker.

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Cast on 80 stitches, place marker, join to work in the round.

Knit 3x1 ribbing for a total of 3/4 inch from cast on (4 rounds).

Switch to Wild Oats pattern stitch and knit a total of 5 pattern repeats. Then knit rounds 1 to 3 of Wild Oats pattern stitch, ending after round 3.

Knit 3x1 ribbing for a total of 3 rounds.

Bind off in 3x1 ribbing. Wear with a smile :)