The Effect of Knitting Different Stitches

If you've ever purchase a Miss Babs Yowza skein, you know that this skein of yarn is GINORMOUS....

560 yards of yarn!

The above is a photo of a different colorway of a skein of YOWZA, but you get idea of size (each square of the grid is 1x1 inches).

I made a hat for myself....

....And there was a ton of it left over. I decided to use a herringbone stitch to make myself a cowl. I wanted to use as much of the yarn as I could before I got too bored or it got too big to use. I ended up using Purl Soho's Big Herringbone Cowl. (I made one previously, but it was much too thin for my liking!)

The pattern is fairly easy to follow, but does require that you pay a bit of attention to it. It is not quite extreme lace knitting, but it's not mindless knitting either. I continued knitting on this hat until I felt it was big enough to use comfortably.

It ended up being the same height as my hat.

One of the things I love about knitting is that you get different variations of color simply by using slightly different stitches.

It's close enough that it matches in color and tone, but isn't exactly the same as my hat.  And the best part about this stitch is that it's almost as thick as double knitting and gives you a nice thick fabric.


It kept me warm when walking about downtown Seattle for Emerald City ComiCon! Plus, I still have quite a bit enough of it left over to use for maybe a pair of fingerless gloves.

Designing My Own Cowl

After Stitches West, I got a hankering to knit myself up a cowl with the scrumptious cashmere/silk that I picked up from the Miss Babs booth -- Sojourn -- 65% cashmere / 35% silk. The colorways are "Pretty Wreckless" and "Bare". While "Pretty Wreckless" is definitely in my color palette, Bare is not. I had originally wanted to get a charcoal grey to mute the colors of "Pretty Wreckless", but they had sold out. :-(

The "Bare" natural color was a second choice, but it really makes the vibrancy of the colors pop!

Scrumptious yarn!

I knew that wanted something with a bit of colorwork and lace. I looked on Ravelry I wasn't 100% happy with many of the existing patterns, especially given my yardage. So I decided to design my own.

I went through a few of my stitch dictionaries and found some very simple lace patterning that didn't require too much mental effort to memorize.  I started off with a bit of lace, then moved on to some minimal strand work and stripes.

It started well enough, but then I would become unhappy with a section and have to frog.

And re-knit a section again. I couldn't make up my mind whether I wanted asymmetrical patterning or something that was relatively balanced

I ended up frogging quite a number of times. I was pleasantly surprised at how well the Miss Babs Sojourn held up to lot of frogging. A small halo developed, but it's cashmere, so I wasn't too surprised.

I read on Ravelry that many people had issues using Sojourn on metal needles, but since I use wood needles, I didn't have any issue.

I lost count of how many times I had to frog and re-knit sections. It took nearly two weeks to finish the knitting!

I haven't quite blocked it yet either, as it has been cold, so I've been wearing it instead.  Can I just say how SOFT and lovely this yarn is? I'm in love, and I have two more skeins of different colorways to use.

I have the pattern written down, which I need to complete and get it ready to put on Ravelry.

FO Round Up for April - March

I just wanted to post some of the finished objects that I've finished in the past 1.5 months. I've been suppressing my start-itis syndrome by going on a finishing jag.

First my completed tiger socks, using Regia. My cat informs me that the toes needed to be white like his toe socks.

In March, I started a quick project so I can try out a new yarn from Yarn on the House (YOTH) that is a merino, nylon, cashmere blend in DK weight. I bought the skein at Stitches West.

So, I made the Honey cowl from it. I made an intermediary size, casting on 180 stitches.

It's a relatively quick knit, and I love the patterning of the slipped stitches.

The yarn is a mottled / heathered green. And after being blocked, it is rather soft and squishy. It also stood up to being ripped several times over. I really love this yarn.

Sometime in early March, I also finished up a pair of fingerless gloves using Stray Cat Yarn's Electric Avenue. I love the self-striping aspect of her yarns. And yes, I did line up the stripes as much as possible.

 

Of course, now, that I've finished these projects, I can start a LOT MORE!