cowled, all by myself (almost)
• Tags: knit, spin
My absolute favourite article of clothing is the turtleneck. I would wear them year-round if I could. However, they aren’t really practical year-round and I tend to buy wool turtlenecks when I buy them at all. Recently I’d seen more and more cowls pop up. Sure, I finished one last February but didn’t really like it. It took one, A Noble Cowl by Emily Kausalik, to win me over. The photo on ravelry showed it pinned. I was smitten. Smitten. In that moment I realized that I too could PIN it and turn it into a more fashionable accessory and be more akin to my favourite but limited-in-season apparel (see here and here.)
After some thinking and looking around ravelry and my stash I realized that I might have enough yardage in my handspun to make something. Imagine that.
Sherbrooke
by Lauren Weinhold
My handspun from Lavendersheep Superwash Merino in Mountain Sunset, under 155 yards (I have a good sized ball leftover).
4.5 mm needles
2.5 days (or just about 2 days if you can count to 5.)
My only complaint is that the way I spun up the mountain sunset turned it *MUCH* pinker than I like. I don’t care. It’s MINE and I’ll still wear it, even if I hate pink.
Since Sherbrooke, I’ve finished a Chickabee Cowl and Beechwood is over halfway done. I find cowls more fun than socks at the moment (no heels and I actually do need a break from 2mm needles every so often) and I’m doing some serious stash busting. By the time I finish Beechwood, 4 balls of yarn will be used up and I have plans for some others! Beyond making lots of accessories to turn most of my plain shirts into a turtleneck–at least temporarily– I’ve found something I can use my newbie handspun for.
Yes, I am stringing out my FO parade. There are some things from a while back I’ve not yet written up (even though the photos exist in flickr). I know there will be a lull in production as yanim noraim hit and the semester winds up to smack me around. But, as Devorah pointed out, using up all those little minutes waiting add up. I don’t spindle or spin as much as she does, but the knitting while standing in line, waiting for my train, or walking home make a big difference.
I haven’t made the time (bad penny) to spin for over a week. I hope to fix that soon as I want to see what I can make next!
ps from the title the “all by myself” means I spun the yarn. the (almost) is that I didn’t shear the sheep or dye the yarn. I don’t know who did the shearing, but Yvonne did a beautiful dyeing job!
It looks great! Congratulations on the stashbusting and on the pretty pretty cowl!
KathyMarie recently wrote It’s not about me. Except when it is.
You’re making me re-think my opinion about cowls. Hmmm.
melanie recently wrote Utterly Speechless Wednesday
Very nice! Maybe I’ll add one to my queue of unfinished projects …
Devorah recently wrote Looking to Tomorrow