Cowls

I have  become particularly interested in the idea of knitting cowls this holiday season.  So I am going to add some Cowls that illustrate ideas....the first is the size of the cowl.  I only need one or two that a
tight to wear when it is really cold....the rest are just for looks.  I think this one below is a nice length.


I also like the length of the one that I wear a lot that is store bought.  I should measure it to see what size it is.

I have made several that are too thin.  Two of them are made of Noro.  I have plans to knit a third and wear all three of them together so they will look a less skinny in a group.  I am thinking longer than the short one and shorter than the long one....but in similar colors....I am almost sure that I already have appropriate yarn on hand.



And in February I am adding a Cowl that Stitch Fix sent to me.  I would never have bought it in a store....but I absolutely LOVE the look of this cowl on me.  I may have to copy this!

The Shift

This past summer I bought yarn at ReBelle in Lexington on my way home from the Blaine Bettinger Conference in Frankfort.  I have been curious about the nightshift pattern that has been so popular, but found it hard to just jump into the project.  I didn't quite "get it".....But the shop had an easier, quicker version called the Shift....and it was very pretty....they had exactly the same yarns for sale as were in the project....and I bought the "kit".  I am starting this project today.  Here are the yarns:




Specific Heat





Isotope




Flash Point


After you wind them into balls, it is almost impossible to figure out which is which....so I am doing the best that I can and then putting them in ziplock bags and labelling them color A, color B, and color C.

I am starting with color A:  Isotope.
Almost immediately the pattern calls for using color A and color B.  I am going with Flash Point as color B.  That leaves Specific Heat to be C.

Here is the version that I viewed in ReBelle




I'll compare what I end up when I finish.

South Hills cowl by Steven Hicks for Rodeo Knits

I needed a mindless knitting project for the plane to Peru this November.  I started an Infinity Scarf in  some really pretty yarn that I had bought from Collinette when I thought this company was going out of business.  I followed the directions for the Worsted Weight yarn cowl.




 

Carla's shawl

This newest color way by Carla is so pretty....I forgot to get the information about yarn and pattern....but didn't want to loose the photo;

Knitting shop in White Sulphur Springs

Sarah took a well earned vacation to DC to visit her daughter last week.  On the way back she stopped at a knitting shop in White Sulphur Spring.  Stone walls Farm is the name of the shop.

The owner dyes her own yarn.  The yarn Sarah brought back with her makes me want to make a special trip to the shop!  It is gorgeous yarn!

Knitting Stripes

I read an e-mail from Harps and Thistles this morning that had a link to a video about knitting stripes.  I want to be sure that I can get to this you tube video again if I end up making the mittens that Carla was working on last week at knitting.

So first here is the you tube URL:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAkLX7ReQOs&feature=youtu.be&mc_cid=e5aa205e11&mc_eid=178c0f918a

And then here is a photo of Carla's mittens.



Carla's mittens are made from a kit that she bought at Black Mountain.



And actually I can see that Carla did not need this video as the ribbing does not have stripes.  Still, it seemed that these two ideas had some connection.  

Wendy's Fern Shawl

I finished my first Wendy's Fern Shawl and I like it a lot....the final photo is in an earlier post.  Because I am very distracted with hosting Mary's family, I decided to just make the same pattern again in some different yarn that was sitting out in my dressing room.  I am not sure that there is enough yarn in this color way.....but at least it is a summer project I can work on while we are sitting in the playroom.

I am using the same needles....size 8.  The yarn is:





The color way is 2108





I ran out of yarn at knitting on Tuesday and it is not nearly long enough.  However, when I played with it yesterday, I found that it is OK worn with triangle tip in back and just crossed over in the front.  That is good because I called all over the place and looked everywhere on-line with no success finding any more of this yarn in this color way.  So now I need to start one more summer project.

Ok...because it is fairly hectic around here, I am going to do one more Wendy's Fern Shawl in some more yarn that is in the fish bowl in my dressing area.









I liked the look of this scarf so much that I started one more Wendy's Fern Shawl.  This time the yarn is also Santorini but in a slightly different color way.  The yarn has been discontinued, so no need to make note of the color.

Didn't actually finish the final Wendy's Fern Shawl until my trip to see Mary in Peru in November.   I wore it to knitting the first Tuesday I was back:

As I already said there is no reason to add information about the yarn.  It has been discontinued.

I do have a small amount of yarn left so I will add that they manufacturer suggests size 7 needles and hand wash and dry flat.

Stephen West's Samen

I have messed with my gorgeous line yarn from Claudia all week.  I just did not like the yarn in the pattern that I was trying to use.  So this morning, I spent a bit of time looking for a new idea.




My newest idea is Stephen West's Samen.  The yarn is held double in this shawl with short rows to make the shape.  My color ideas will be very different from what is seen here, but the shape of the shawl will be similar.

Carla's Tashashu Gordon scarf

Our knitting group met at Sarah's Kanawha City knitting shop in the end of March.  Carla bought yarn for a pattern that she had bought on Ravelry called Short Scarf Dryad.  She is getting ready to start the scarf and I do love what she bought!



The yarn she bought from Sarah is



It is a solid gray and then a variegated



Carla is using my 2.5mm circular needles.  What a wonderful use for a variegated yarn!

Start as many new projects as you like!

Linda Wilkinson sent me a link to a blog that was sharing an article from Interweave.  The article is about starting as many new projects as one likes.  I am not sure that I agree with that.  But I do believe in having three projects going at any one time.  I find that starting a new project is lots of fun, but it takes a lot of time and is hard to do in a social situation.  So I need to find some down time in my life to spend on my new project.

Why three projects?  Because I knit mostly in social situations or while on the phone and etc, I find that if I make a mistake I need to knit something else until I have some quiet time to fix whatever is causing the problem.  So I always have two projects that go with me.  And then I need a third project that is perhaps just a bit more challenging ....or perhaps it is not seasonal.

I know that seasonal is kind of crazy.....but I do not like to knit heavy wool in the summer....I want to experiment with linen or hemp or silk or something summery!  And then when winter rolls around, I want to pull out those warm, wool projects that make me "drool"!  I am not above putting a half finished project up when April rolls around to pull back out in September!

So here is the link if you want to read the article for yourself:

https://mailchi.mp/yarnandcoffee/owdsuq9mhl?e=670940a7aa

I am dreaming of some summer projects right now:





And the next yarn is even prettier in person and is a big bowl on my family room trunk/coffee table.

Genealogy conference

I know that this is an odd title for my knitting blog.  However, I just returned from the Ohio Genealogical Society's spring conference and I, truly, my brain is still on overload.  So I have to start unloading my brain somewhere.....so I'll start with my knitting thoughts.

As always, I packed way too much.  I went a day early to check into my room.  The conference was at the Great Wolf Lodge just northeast of Cincinnatti.  It is such a funny place to have a conference, but it actually works out very well.  My room was in the perfect place.  Half way between the main lobby (where one might buy coffee) and the conference area.  But I kept making the remark to everyone I ran into.....it is certainly easy to tell which are the swimmers and which are the genealogy people.

But back to the packing.  It was probably the first time in my life that I had packed exactly everything that I needed for the trip.  Never did I have the thought that I wished that I had brought X.  And the first day the rooms were freezing in spite of the fact that it was almost 85 outside....and then the rest of the days were cold and rainy.....so thank goodness I had brought sweaters and long sleeves.  I was reminded that my best look is a pair of pants, a t-shirt, and a long summer sweater with a necklace of some sort.  BUT, there were several women who had brought a nice shawl with them to wear in the rooms that were cold....and I definitely want to take at least one shawl next time!  In fact I think that I might want to knit a very specific shawl for just such events.  I will give that some thought and add ideas on this blog site.

The second thought that I want to add here is that I checked and Fiber Optics has a shop only 20 minutes away from the Great Wolf Lodge....and only a very few minutes out of the way when arriving or leaving the area.....just a few miles off route 32.  Unfortunately, in spite of the fact that the hours advertised said that they were open until 6 on Saturday, when I pulled up in front at 4:30, the place was closed....I will do this on another trip.  I am almost positive that Dar is a huge fan of Fiber Optics.

Frilled Cast On

Pinterest sent me a pin this morning that had something of interest for shawl cast ons.  The Frilled cast on.



I saved the site to which pinterest sent me to learn how to make this cast on in my book marks under the folder Knitting.  The suggestion on the site is that this pairs well with the picot cast off.

Wendy's Fern Shawl

Porch weather finally has hit.  I know it won't be every day yet and often it is too cool in the morning still.  But yesterday late afternoon and early evening was very nice on the porch.  I began thinking about starting summer projects.  I found a box labelled summer and chose a yarn that I like.

Tahki Yarns Luguna.  It is 78% Linen and 22% Cotton and is a nice soft natural looking color.  Next step is a pattern.  I chose Wendys' Fern Shawl.





I am knitting the project on size 8 needles.  It is not totally mindless but easy enough to take to knitting on Tuesdays.

I finished the shawl in July while Mary's family was visiting.  I like it a lot!

Blocking and Gauge

I received an e-mail this morning from Harps and Thistles which is the yarn shop that I visited on my magical trip to Buffalo to see Rudy's hockey tournament.  There was a link to a very good article about both gauge and blocking that I didn't want to loose.  The article is on the Mason Dixon Knitting site:

https://www.masondixonknitting.com/techniques-in-depth-how-to-measure/?platform=hootsuite&mc_cid=a2a6bd011f&mc_eid=178c0f918a

Fallen Cloud shawl

I finished the Elm Bank Cowl and thus get to start another project.  I have chosen Fallen Cloud as the pattern to knit the very pretty Blue Araucania brand yarn that I must have bought from Love Knitting last fall.

Araucania Lujoso  

50% Baby Alpaca 35% Wool 15% Silk, 3.5oz, Worsted

 So far I love the pattern and the yarn!  Very pretty.  It isn't quite mindless enough to knit while I am on the phone.....but just fine for taking to knitting....so I will probably start one more project today.

I am knitting this project on size 8 needles.  Dar looked at my project and liked it so much that she has started the same pattern in grey.  We are using entirely different yarns and different gauge.(not sure if Dar knits more loosely or is using a larger needle).  It is very interesting to see the difference as we knit at the same time.  I like the way that her light gray yarn shows the cables better.  But I like the way that my cabled edge is crisp.  I think it will be fun to compare at the end.  I believe my version will be heavy and not drape as well while her version will be lighter and a better drape.  I hope I don't forget to update this post when we finish.

I finished my project in February 2020.  I LOVE the shawl.  Carla liked it so much that she also used the pattern and made a version in green....all three are very pretty and all three are very different.  It is fun to see how different yarns and different knitters make such different shawls from the same pattern.  Dar did change her pattern so that is was less triangular and longer.  She did this by not increasing quite as often.  I am getting ready to block my shawl today.

Yarn Shop near Cleveland

Sally and Dar went to Cleveland for routine check up for Sally.  They visited River Colors Studio and both agree it is a wonderful shop.  Dar says it rivals her favorite shop in Virginia Beach.

https://www.rivercolors.com

The actual address for the shop is Lakewood, Ohio

.

Iceland

I received a very nice brochure from Tauck travel company.  Moppy had used this company as had Laurie and Hank Sammons and both had liked the service that they received from Tauk.  One of the offerings they presented was a cruise in Iceland.  WOW!  I just think that I had never looked at Iceland before....REALLY looked.  In my mind it was a small to medium sized island ....not the huge island that the map in the brochure presented:



Here is a map that shows the location better:



I just checked and all 8 eight day cruises of Iceland by Tauk are sold out for this year!

But what caused me to decide to write this blog was many things.  First I listened to an interview with Stephen West on the Vogue site and Stephen said that he was knitting in Iceland.

http://vogueknitting.com/knitterviews

He said he is not in Reykjavík ...he is someplace further north.  And it seemed to me that his comment was that the isolation of the area made him slow down and affected his knitting.  I will relisten to his interview and try to clarify or reinterpret what I heard.  I think he said he is in Isafojordur.

In addition to the interview is the fact that I often sit next to our resident expert on Iceland:  Kristin Ornolfsdottir.  Kristine is our knitting groups Mitten expert!  She knits amazing mittens from Icelandic wool as quickly and as efficiently as old time knitters turned out dish cloths.





It seems crazy not to take advantage of all of these facts to actually know more about Iceland and knitting.

Two more pieces of information that I want to add to this blog post is that Stephen West is good buddies with Nancy Marchant....the lady who does the Brioche.  Nancy is a neighbor to Stephen in Amsterdam.  I bought several of Nancy's books because they are amazingly pretty!



Stephen referred to the Boneyard shawl as having  shawl started this "whole thing"....I believe he meant that his OWN design of the Boneyard shawl started him on his shawl "kick".  So, of course, I had to go to Ravelry and look at the Boneyard shawl.  I am not sure that the one that I chose was his first.  There are lots of interpretations of his original shawl.

Boneyard shawl



Here is another person's interpretation of the boneyard shawl that is very pretty:



And if you go to the Ravelry site, you can download the boneyard shawl pattern

Try a striped Boneyard Shawl with extra edge increases for an elongated wingspan. Pattern variation here!

The interview with Stephen West can be found at:

http://vogueknitting.com/knitterviews

Elm Bank Cowl

Sarah made me the Elm Bank Cowl from super bulky yarn several years ago.  I have found the perfect Fleece to wear it with and I find that I have worn it a lot this winter and received many compliments.  This photo doesn't do justice to how nicely the cowl and fleece go together.

 

So this winter I found another fleece when I was bringing fleece's out of the basement for which I had the perfect yarn on hand and made one for myself to match another fleece that I already own:



Again the photo does not do justice to how well the cowl matches the fleece.

Then I found a fleece sweatshirt for which I had yarn on hand that I had bought from Sarah in Kanawha City a couple of years ago which was another cowl to be made.

http://marshamosesknitting.blogspot.com/2016/11/malabrigo-yarn-bought-in-kanawha-city.html

I laughed at my self as I hung the yarn on the coat hanger with the sweatshirt....but it worked and I am starting it today.  I like this Elm Bank Cowl a lot more than I like what I had originally bought the yarn for.





As I pulled it off the hanger to start, I though....WOW!  this hank is exactly the right size to knit a longer cowl.  So I measured it before I wound into a ball and it is approximately 52" to 53"

As I wound the ball, my thought is that perhaps I will like this even more with a jean jacket of coat when it is actually finished.  The colors might be good with denim look.





The pattern calls for 17 needles.  The one twist in the circle makes it lay a bit differently than a cowl that is just knit around.