Some Buttons and the Mohair Cowl

I still have both baby sweaters in progress this morning. 

The Playful Stripes cardigan has all those ends from the color changes woven in and is blocking before I get the button band knitted on. The collar on the Baby Sophisticate is done and was super quick. All that I have left to do is sew on buttons and weave in the ends. And yes, I bought buttons. 

I am in love with these moose buttons. I think they are definitely going to give some extra flair to the baby jacket.

The moose out in the wild.

Now it's just a matter of me mustering up the strength to sew on the buttons. We all know how much I love to sew.

In the meantime, I would like to share another Before Blog finished item. Allow me to present to you the Mohair Cowl:

Please forgive the bathroom self-portrait. Adam is a bit hard to convince to take pictures sometimes. 

Calling it the Mohair Cowl sounds a little bit like I'm referring to a wild animal, doesn't it? "While we were on vacation we were lucky enough to see the mohair cowl running across the plains at dawn." Truly a beautiful sight.

  This cowl/hood/capelet was crocheted using a little over two skeins of Rowan Kidsilk Haze, which I am now absolutely in love with. It is done holding two strands together and using an 11.5mm crochet hook. The resulting fabric is delicious. It is so light and fluffy and feels absolutely luxurious. The pattern is Mossy Cowl by Katie Himmelberg (and is available for free from Knitting Daily). It is a really quick and easy pattern to work up and I think I actually finished it in a couple of days.

This particular cowl was made as a gift for my friend Brooke. She watched my lovely pups while we were in California over Christmas so I wanted to make sure to give her something extra special. After I finished making the cowl, I loved it so much I considered keeping it and making her something else that was extra special. But alas, I gave it to her. And here she is putting it to good use:

This is from her recent photo shoot (done by Tori) for her band, Brooklyn 232. I was so pumped to see the cowl looking oh-so-awesome on her, that I promptly stole this picture right off her Facebook page (although I did ask her for permission soon after my theft).  I am now going to most definitely make a second for myself this year.

Fourteen Cowl

One of my first knits (but not the first) was the Fourteen Cowl by John Brinegar.  I had come upon some Araucania Limari through some online swapping (only the beginning of my swapping phase). I was thoroughly enticed by this plump yarn in these bright colors. When I received it, I realized that uh oh it was only 61 yards. What is a new knitter supposed to do with only 61 yards? 

I did what anyone else would do: I turned to the search engine on Ravelry. Oh, the wonder of Ravelry. I don't quite remember how I found the pattern but it was like a sign. I mean, come on, it's done in the exact same yarn! It looked wonderful and warm and it just so happened to be that time of year when the weather changes drastically. It was early October here in the Midwest and went from being in the 70's one day to a high in the 50's the next. That's when I miss California.

Anyhow, this plush yarn and the Fourteen pattern came around at just the right time. It's done in the brioche stitch (which took me longer to figure out than to actually knit the pattern). I finally found instructions I could understand on the internet and got started. The yarn is a super bulky, 70% Merino, 20% Alpaca, and 10% Silk yarn. Worked up on size 13 needles, this is like wrapping a fluffy little cloud around your neck. Oh yeah, and it only took a couple hours for me to do. What more could a novice knitter ask for? 

The same day I finished I rushed off to the craft store to find buttons. Aren't these perfect?  I was in such a rush to finish this project so I could wear it. And who doesn't love a little instant gratification? 

My finished Fourteen Cowl has probably received the most compliments of any knitted accessory I've made.  It got a lot of use this past winter since it fits great under a fleece and is super-duper warm! Considering all the use, it has held up pretty well. There's only been very minimal stretching. The yarn is very soft and not itchy at all (although let me be honest, I'm not generally sensitive to yarns). This is such a quick knit and so darn cute (and so darn useful and practical). It would make a great last minute gift for anyone living in a cold weather climate.

Big Bow Cardigan

It's always the same lesson, his Appalachian 

childhood and mine: if we can't make it, 

we have to do without; if we can make it,

then we have to accept corners slightly 

out of square and lines almost level.

-Tim Skeen, Kentucky Swami

Another pre-knitting (and before blog) item I wanted to share with you was my Big Bow Cardigan (also known as my No Bow Cardigan). This cardigan graced the cover of the Fall 2009 issue of Interweave Crochet.  I first found this issue at my boss's house towards the end of the summer. Now, this was after my "yarn discovery" so by this point, I was well aware of different yarns and ready to take on a new challenge. Up until last summer, I had only ever crocheted afghans. It never really occurred to me that I could use crochet to make something besides an afghan. So when I saw this pattern, my initial reaction was that it was pretty cute. But could I actually make it? I read through the pattern briefly and realized that it consisted of single crochet worked back and forth from one sleeve to the other. Perfect. 

I went straight to the craft store that evening and bought eight skeins of Patons Wool. I was a bit unaware about yarn weights so I just sort of assumed it would fit the pattern and since I was also on Ravelry by this time, I had scoped out some of the other finished projects and many people also used Patons. 

The pattern, although a little monotonous, worked up quickly. I decided I wanted to modify the pattern to have long sleeves and no bow. I worked on this project diligently for about two weeks. Finally, I was done. I wanted my first crocheted garment to be special. More special than any acrylic afghan I had ever crocheted. Like a real yarn crafter, I would block this piece. I bought some wool wash and filled up the bathroom sink. I followed the directions and after some time, squeezed the water gently from the garment. I rolled it up in a towel, pressed out the excess water and transported it to the other room. As I was laying it out to pin it in place, I noticed that it looked a bit weird. A bit apish, perhaps. I started measuring. It was at this point that I realized that the sleeves were way too long. After the cardigan had dried, I tried it on and sure enough: each sleeve was almost 8" too long! 

This was the halfway point. I really should have already realized something was amiss.

You know that feeling when you've spent countless hours on a piece and suddenly realize that it is practically useless (unless of course you happen to know some bald monkey that could use a wool sweater)? Yeah, I had that feeling. Unfortunately I don't know any monkey's, hairy or bald.  I knew I could rip back the one sleeve that had been finished last but the sleeve that I started with would have to be picked backwards. On top of all this, I would still need to seam the sides. I mean really? Would anyone else like to squeeze some lemon juice in my eye or maybe trip me on my way down the stairs? I couldn't even look at the stupid sweater. At one point I even thought about just throwing it all away. All my hopes for my first crocheted garment were shattered. 

I fixed the easy sleeve and then let the project sit for about a month. Finally, something came over me. I wanted that sweater. I had decided to make it because I had actually wanted it. So I sat down and spent every free moment over the next few days picking the sleeve back one stinking single crochet at a time. After all this, I seamed it up and sewed on the buttons. 

I'm really glad that I pushed on to fix the problems. I love how this turned out. I have been thinking I may still change the buttons before this winter comes but overall, I think my first crochet garment turned out awesome. A couple of things came up in this project:

• wool stretches
• single crochet ribbing stretches
• it is possible to undo a single crochet from the bottom.

Lessons learned. 

Silky Merino and Me*

I'd like to share with you how my love for yarn really began. Last summer, after I had recently discovered my first yarn store, my parents came to visit. I told my mother about the lace scarf I had crocheted and how the yarn was so soft and gorgeous, how it could change my love for the craft, how it could change humanity.  All the things you say when you meet your first real yarn. On this particular day we were out doing what we do best: shopping.  We happened upon a cute little town square/shopping center that we had been to before and decided to stop in to a certain LYS in this area. This yarn store sold a bunch of fancy-shmancy** yarns, although I didn't really know it at the time since all I had ever used was acrylic. After using acrylic, anything can seem fancy and expensive. At this LYS we saw two crocheted scarf samples. Both were very lacy and done is a beautiful yarn. They were made out of Malabrigo Silky Merino. I really didn't want to spend $20 on yarn plus the extra $6 to get the pattern.  It just seemed like an awful lot to spend on yarn. Try me now, and I'd snatch it up in a heartbeat. But that's another story. 

My mother and I ooohed and ahhhed over all the gorgeous colors of the Silky Merino and she finally said, "Well, if I buy it, will you make it for me?" My mother knew that I just wanted the chance to use that yarn. Since this was only the beginning of my yarn frenzy, I jumped at the chance.

The pattern for this is called Silky Merino Crocheted Lace Scarves (it comes as a set of two different crocheted lace scarf patterns) by Kathy Disantis and Dianne Rodabaugh of Ewe and I Originals.

This scarf (Ravelry project link) worked up quickly. I believe it only took about two days. Both scarf patterns use two skeins of Silky Merino but, at least for this one, you will not use up the whole two skeins. You'll have enough yarn left to make yourself this:

A fun little cell phone cover! I loved this yarn so much, I couldn't bear to let it go to waste. I spent a couple hours working up this fun little case that could fit either my cell phone or my camera. I used this case endlessly until the unthinkable happened. Hazel got it.

She ripped the darling ruffle right off the top. I think she just hates ruffles. 

So the cell phone case is no more. But the scarf lives on, in California with my mother. I only wish I had another for myself.  I always ask her if she actually wears it. She, of course, says yes.  But let me tell you, if I find out she's not using it I'm stealing it the next time I visit. 

Please note that I am doing my Paw if Forward giveaway on Hazel's blog. If you have a furry friend in your life, check it out!

*I would like to point out and apologize for some of the photos you will see in the pictures of my older projects. As you can tell, I was still working on getting this whole "take pictures of your yarn" business squared away.

**As you're writing your blog, do you ever find yourself wondering if words like fancy-shmancy are hyphenated or not?