Basic Cowl for a basic guy

 My husband Ken is a simple guy. He has the same clothes he had when we met 41 years ago. Once he liked a shirt so much that he bought three more like it. So when I made a cowl for him of basic K1,P1 in green wool, I thought he would like it. He now wears it all the time, even to bed! He has stretched it out so much that it is now doubled, on its way to being tripled. Home Run! (wish I could rotate this picture though)

Yarn for Pooling

I went to the Loveland Yarn Festival last April and came across this yarn specially designed for pooling. I love it! I made a hat with pink and cowl with the blue. It is worsted weight so it is very warm. 

 

Kitty Escher-ish Cowl

This is now my favorite cowl. It is from the book Cat Knits which (of course) I got from the library. In fact, I am wearing it right now because it fairly cold these days. Since I love the cold weather, it is perfect for me. The cowl reminds me of the artist Esher with the interlocking kitty faces.

After all, you can never have too many cats!

Silky Wool Cowls

 

I took this pattern from a pattern in Sweet Shawlettes called the Grace Cowl. It is a drop stitch pattern. It's always fun to purposely drop stitches.

Once again I got it from the library. I used one of my favorite yarns called Classy Silky Wool from Elsebeth Lavold. I even went out and purchased several more skeins in different colors to make some more.

For this cowl, I used a variegated DK yarn in pinks and purples. 

Switched up to a Cowl

 

I took a break from my hat knitting to put together a cute little cowl. Cowls are really fun because you don't have to increase or decrease to hit your head. This is a bright cobalt blue with a design of a mock cable and rib. This retirement knitting is really fun. 

Victoria Cowl/Hood

I like to name my designs after people I know, so this is named for my niece, whose middle name is Victoria. I already named a pattern after her first name.  I am going to have start using the names of my friends' children because I am running out of nieces. 

The Victoria Cowl can be worn as a cowl to keep your neck warm, or as a hood when the wind picks up.  It's a simple lace pattern, very similar to the feather and fan pattern. It comes out looking like a ribbed lace pattern, yet it's dense enough to keep the cold out. 

Victoria Cowl/Hood

Materials:

2 Skeins Cascade Yarn 220 Superwash Sports Raspberry

   (100% Superwash Merino Wool -

     50 g(1.75 oz) - 136.5 yds (125m)

Size 6 (4mm) 16” circular needle

Stitch marker                

Yarn needle

Gauge: 4” = 22-24 stitches

Cast on 136 stitches. Join being careful not to twist the stitches. Place marker to note the beginning of the round.

Row 1: K

Row 2: P

Repeat these two rows two more times. 

Begin lace pattern:

Row 1: K

Row 2: *K1, yo, K1, yo, K 5 tog (slip the next four stitches onto your right needle, k1, pass each slipped stitch over the k1 one at a time), yo, k1, yo*. Repeat from * around to marker.

Rows 3 and 4: Knit

Continue these 4 rows for approximately 10 inches, or as long as you want the cowl. The longer the cowl, the better a hood it makes. End with row 2.

Row 1: K

Row 2: P

Repeat these two rows two more times. 

Bind off loosely in pattern.

Cut yarn, leaving an 8” tail. Cut yarn and secure tightly.  Weave in ends.

More Changes ...

Things seem to go so slowly and then change and change and change.

Working on my cowl

I started a new job last week and then I was offered another job. I must have sent out over 200 resumes and didn't hear anything for weeks. I have a total of five interviews and was then offered a seasonal job with a 38-mile commute. No benefits, no holiday, sick or vacation. So I took it. I was beginning to think that nothing would happen and this was better than nothing. 

I hated the commute. Even with CD books, all I could think of was how much wear and tear this job was causing my precious Prius (I really love my Prius). I traveled on three different interstates, fighting the traffic and sunshine slow down. The job was actually kind of fun and if was closer, I would have been happier.

So when I was offered a job at a law firm downtown (I have 22 years of experience as a paralegal), I had to take it. It is twice as much money, shorter commute, benefits -- and it's downtown Denver! I have worked downtown before and always enjoyed it. But now, I can also take Light Rail. The train stop is only one block from the office and the time on the train is my own. I can knit, or read, or knit, or listen to music, or knit, and when nothing else is going on, I can knit! It will actually take me longer to drive to the train station than it will to ride the train downtown. And downtown Denver in the summertime is magical -- the street performers, sidewalk art shows, great lunch places, people watching.

I felt bad about leaving a job I was only at for one week until my friend pointed that it was a temp job and they wouldn't hesitate to lay me off. That made me feel better. So I have a couple of days to knit at home before packing my knitting bag to step on the train. I am working on my Carmel Jacket, so I will post some work-in-progress photos in the next day or so.

Back to the needles.

Babs Cowl - Free Pattern

I have a lot of single -- or orphan -- skeins in my stash. I usually use them to make hats. If I don't have enough of one skein, I add a brim with another color or similar yarn. Lately I have been getting into cowls. They are great because they do just about anything a scarf can do without the tails. I also seem to lose scarves more often when they fall off the back of a chair or while walking. Cowls just stay in place.

I used this wonderful Chalet Alpaca yarn which is lusciously soft! I purchased one skein of this yarn without knowing what I wanted to make with it, but I had to have it. Touching this yarn is similar to putting your hand into a cloud. It comes in natural colors and I may have to locate some more to make a hat. 

I named this cowl after my cousin Babette. She is only about six months younger than me, and we have basically spent our entire lives together. I grew up on a farm and Babs would come about and spend summers on the farm with me. We had no idea that our childhoods were so perfect.

Babs Cowl

The Babs Cowl is elastic and loose-fitting, a perfect accessory to keep your neck warm on a breezy day. It is knitted in the round in a rib set off by a garter stitch that is very easy and fun to do and creates a beautiful rib. The nice part about these cowls is that they can be made with just one skein of yarn of approximately 100 yards. 

Materials:

1 skein Chalet Yarn by Classic Elite Yarns (70% Baby Alpaca, 30% bamboo)

98 yds/50 gr ball)

Size 10 (4mm) 16” circular needle

Stitch marker

Yarn needle

Gauge: 2” = 6 stitches

Cast on 104 stitches. Join being careful not to twist the stitches. Place marker to note the beginning of the round.

Row 1: *K

Row 2: *K1, P6, K1. Repeat from * around to marker.

Continue these 2 rows for approximately 5 inches or until you have enough to bind off. Bind off loosely in pattern.

Cut yarn, leaving an 8” tail. Cut yarn and secure tightly.  Weave in ends.

 

This free pattern is also available on Craftsy pattern store. http://www.craftsy.com/user/4370/pattern-store.

When Pattern and Yarn Comes Together

I am so LOVING this project.

This scarf is on the cover of the Jane Austen Knits 2011.  If you let it flow, it is a gorgeous fluffy scarf, and if you wrap it around your neck, it looks like a ruffled cowl. The magazine is filled with very feminine patterns and this is not the only pattern I will be making from it.

The scarf uses short rows to create the flowing ruffles and is only done in garter stitch. I love doing short rows for some reason, so I just keep knitting and knitting.

I am using a 50% alpaca/50% wool lace yarn called in AlpacaWare in a light lavender. I got about ten skeins on this yarn on eBay a few years ago for a really cheap price and still have four skeins left. I made a shawl with four skeins that I still need to block. I better get on that.

The new Jane Austen Knit magazine is out now and I picked it up at my local yarn store (A Knitted Peace in Littleton, CO) last week. I have already marked several projects to do.