off the needles: sweet magnolia handspun

"Sweet Magnolia" by Susan Gehringer, narrow long cowl

Started: September 2015

Finished: October 23, 2015

Fiber: Aztec handspun

Notes: When I finished spinning this braid of BFL/Silk I just wanted to keep working with it, so I went and searched my Ravelry favorites for a short pattern that would fit with the yardage I got this time around. The Sweet Magnolia cowl had been in my list since it debuted last year, and the narrow, but longer version fit the bill. The stripes in the colorway came out beautifully with the length of the cowl, but I kind of feel that the beautiful pattern got a bit obscured by all the color changes. It was fun doing the picot hem and all in all, I think it will make a lovely gift this Christmas. Just make sure to read the pattern carefully! The different version starting points tripped me up a bit at first but wasn't ultimately hard to read. 

I feel like it has been forever since I've completed a knitting project, with lots of shop prep and spinning (both wonderful), so it felt so good to finish this. Only a few projects left before I take on the winter beast that is Timberline!

love list: two very fall cabled cowls

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FALL FALL FALL. It's getting so real, and I am so ready to knit all of the things, spin all of the things and wear all of the knits. For fear of this turning into the most basic girly post about fall, I'm going to cut it short and just talk about these two patterns. 

The Ellerbe Cowl just got released today(!) and looks like a fun, quick knit. I want to totally knit this pattern over a weekend away in the mountains, maybe when I'm up in NY for the Sheep & Wool Festival in October. And Melissa is such a sweetheart, she did a Periscope episode yesterday on basic cabling techniques that you should definitely check out (@hey_lady_hey). It would be a great choice if you're new to cabling and want to try it for the first time. 

The Forest Cowl is a similar structure with unribbed edges and some different cables spread all over the cowl. It reminds me of the winter cowls Carrie Bostick Hoge designed for Taproot this spring being a bit slouchy and oversized with lots of fun texture. And so lovley! I love her use of texture in her knits. They're classic but modern all at the same time. 

Both would be fun options for these finally-fall days. Happy knitting!

Mittens and kittens

I have never really been a monogamous knitter. Maybe on my first ever project, but that's it. I like to think that's because there's too many good things to knit in the world, but it's probably just because I'm scatterbrained :)

I'm currently knitting two fingering weight projects and so I was recently struck with the need to just knit something really fast. And I didn't have any mittens, so mittens it was. To my dismay, there is a startling lack of mitten patterns that I like out there. I just wanted something so simple, to go with this amazing Super Pink Worsted Twist I had gotten for Christmas. And I looked and looked and it was not to be found. So I channeled my inner EZ and decided to just adapt a pattern I did like. And mittens were born!

SUPER pink mittens

Started: January 2015

Ended: January 2015

Fiber: Purl Soho Worsted Twist in "Super Pink"

Notes: This is a pattern for mittens that was originally published by Purl Soho called Classic Mittens, and it was just what I was looking for, but written in fingering weight. I did a gauge swatch and was getting 5 stitches to the inch on US 7 needles, so I did a little math to convert the 8 stitches to the inch that the pattern dictated. I also did a long-tail cast on and converted the cuff so that it didn't fold over and just did a K1 P1 rib. The only trouble that I had was with the decreases, which I did more successfully on the second mitt. They were done in two days and I was happy, although with regular wear I'm finding that hot pink doesn't really go with the other things in my wardrobe. 

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On an unrelated note, my birthday was last week, and B gave me the best birthday surprise ever when we went to pick up these two little ones at an animal sanctuary. 

Naturally, we are completely in love with our little Nash & Melo and my phone is running out of space with all the pictures I'm taking of them!