lowbrow cowl

Lowbrow Cowl

Happy Sunday! It's been a lovely quiet one so far. Planning on catching up with my blog reading sprinkled with some cozy sock knitting and comfort food eating :) With Easter just one week away, I figured it was past time to finish the last of the Christmas 2015 knits, so I spent the morning doing just that. I love how this turned out and it was a fun project once I dedicated some time to it. My only regret (well, besides that it's several months overdue) is that I had to use a 100% acrylic yarn since the recipient is allergic to wool. Although knitpicks Brava is quite nice to knit with and is very soft & cozy. Plus you can't beat the ease of care. The cowl is a versatile size but I think it looks best worn as a single loop in order to show off the pretty leaves.

Wrapping up this project has me looking ahead to this year's Christmas Knitting. Every year I tell myself to get an early start but it never happens. When do you usually start your holiday knitting? A 100% handmade Christmas has always been a dream of mine since I started knitting again after college. Maybe one day!

systems & tools

I decided to hold off on starting any large time consuming projects until some more WIP's were finished. Some easy vanilla socks were cast on instead. Yarn is the popular Design Line by Arne & Carlos (first edition) in the Summer Night colourway. Fun! I also couldn't resist buying another knitting gadget: the Sock Ruler. Like I need another knitting ruler! But I have a hard time accurately measuring my socks-in-progress without having to resort to a mini-wrestling match so it was worth buying and has been used quite a bit so far. Another useful gadget is this sock knitting needle holder. I always get paranoid that my project will slip off the dpn's as it gets shoved around in my knitting bag. Also found a cute storage solution for my jumble of dpn's with this nicely sized pencil case.

I wanted to talk a little bit about how I've been managing the WIP basket this year. Pretty sure by now that you are all aware of my newly discovered love of sock knitting. Well, it turns out that an unexpected but most welcomed side effect to that addiction has been a noticeable lack of inclination to start new projects. Besides socks, that is. I have been diligently working on one WIP during my spare time on my days off until it gets done. Then on the days that I have to work, I get to relax and wind down with some perfectly mindless sock knitting. Where as before, I would come home after a 12 hour shift, eat a lonely late night dinner (since the guys are both fast asleep) and then pass out in front of the tv because all of my knitting required too much concentration. Knitting a little bit before bedtime on an undemanding project really is a great stress reliever. Plus, focusing on just two projects at one time has made me feel so much more productive. So far this year, I have completed 5 projects with two more close to being off the needles. That's a personal record for sure! So, what is your system for managing WIP's? How many WIP's can you juggle at one time before things start to feel a little crazy & out of control?

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 :)