cowled, all by myself (almost)

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!

• Category: handmade
• Tag: knit, spin