Thursday, December 11, 2014

Cowls here, cowls there, cowls everywhere!

Okay, Interweave Knits won me back with the Winter issue (review to come), even though I think the new editor isn't quite there yet. This was the first one of her issues where I felt the need to immediately cast on one of the patterns. Shockingly, it was a cowl, the Caterpillar Cowl.

I've had the Dark Horse Fantasy yarn sitting around for years. I loved the variegated colors, I loved the feel of it, but I didn't know what to do with it. I didn't have enough yardage for a sweater, too much yardage for mitts or a hat, and the one scarf I knit with some of it turned out terribly. Despite extensive blocking the scarf rolled constantly and wouldn't lay flat. When I decided to knit the cowl I went hunting through my stash, re-discovered this yarn, and decided to rip out the scarf and re-use its yarn in the cowl. I'm glad that I did.

The cowl knit up quickly over Thanksgiving weekend and is super warm. The pattern on the lace ends was easy to memorize, and the stacked rows of purl/knit stitches in the body provide interest.

I will warn you, though, I'm used to reading lace patterns from right to right - ie, each pattern starts on the right side, you knit across, and then the next row starts at the right. I knit about two inches before I realized this was wrong and that you had to knit this chart back and forth.

Ripped out, started over reading the pattern back and forth and the work went quickly from there. Here it is, finished, around my neck this morning;

Super warm and comfy, I think I'm going to get a lot of use out of this one!

- Dena

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