It's an addiction

Cowls. There ought to be a law against 'em! Heheheeee

Tuesday night cowl

This cowl was a bit of an experiment. I've had Rowan Romance in my stash since i bought "a few balls" in one of Kemps big sales and i've always wanted to make something with it but have been a bit wary of it's bulky size. It is however quite lightweight which is nice! I love the look of the cable crossovers on a stocking stitch background and the way it makes the fabric ruched and i am really happy with how this came out. I had to fiddle with the pattern a bit cos of the different weight yarns but it's just the right size and makes a great face warmer when there's a cold wind. The Romance is impenetrable! Best of all? It took two evenings to make it :D

Cove Cowl

This is the second installment of the GCKAL - the Cove Cowl.
Very complicated (for me), very time consuming, a little bit tedious (for me) but an utterly lovely cowl at the end of it!
I have discovered that while i don't mind knitting cables, i apparantly don't like different cables in the same project. Some rounds required only one cable to be twisted while other rows required all seven to be twisted and all in different directions. It was HARD work. But hey, look what i got at the end of it :D

Cove Cowl

I used some of my beloved Sublime Yarns Organic Merino that i got in the sale at Get Knitted. It seems to be a recurring theme here but it's gorgeously soft and squishy and so warm and light. I love it :D

Do Cowl Again

It's KAL time again, the Great Cowl KAL has been reduced in number this year and we will only be knitting two cowls for the challenge. So, without further ado, here's the first :D

wish i was weaving this cowl

It's the Wish I Was Weaving This Cowl by the very talented Liz Abinante at Feministy and i've used the skein of Manos del Uruguay Wool Classica that i got at Ally Pally and it is very soft and warm but it doesn't seem to have a good memory because it stretched a little when i put it on but didn't shrink back again. I'll have to keep an eye on it or it won't be very warm if it keeps stretching!!

The Final Cowl - down?!

Dun dun dun deeeeeerrrrrrr... dun dun dundunderrrrrrrrrr.....

It worked in my head! :D

So, as a reward for finishing all of the cowls in the Great Cowl challenge and submitting them all on time we were rewarded with an extra pattern! I present the Like Honey Cowl :D

It's a gorgeous design with smocking and cables and knitted with Nimu Sella it is just warm, soft and luxxurious *love*

Lavender Scowl

This is the final installment in the Great Cowl KAL - Blueberry Scowl but as i am using some lovely handspun in silver grey and lavender i have renamed it!
It's really heavy and warm and LONG!

Not the right buttons

I found the perfect buttons in Allders, really pretty Mother of Pearl ones :)

Orange Hat and Cowl number FourOrange

I have been meaning to knit an orange hat to go with my gorgeous Forest Canopy Shawl that Joy made me in 2008 and i finally got round to it!
I used the Interlude Hat pattern with no mods and used the yummy Colinette DK that i bought on our Welsh holiday in 2009 for this very purpose! I like it when a plan comes together! :D

Orange hat and Cowl Four

The cowl is installment Four in the Great Cowl Challenge over at Feministy's Ravelry group. This one's called Perpertually Persistant and is made with Rowan Big Wool and 10mm needles! It's really thick and squishy and so warm! I'm managing to keep to the schedule and am getting my cowls submitted on time which is great and i am really enjoying the challenge too :)

Great Cowl Challenge - Pt3

Here is the third installment of the Great Cowl Challenge KAL - it's called Weeble Wobble Cowl and is made with my precious skein of Violet Green sock yarn in a beautiful purpleypinkyblue colourway.

Although the rounds were very long i really enjoyed making it and the short row sections added great interest :)

unfortunately it is impossible to photograph well!

Patchwork notebook cover

This tutorial popped up on my Facebook page the other day and reminded me that i have wanted to make one for ages so today i had a free afternoon for the first time this week and decided to spend it in the kitchen sewing  my new squared paper notebook it's very own cover :D

i started by choosing my fabrics

and ended up with this!

Inside

Pen holder and elastic closure

Button closure with felt and embroidery!

With hindsight i should have used a plain fabric to line it as it is not visible at all but other than that i am very happy with it and my new notebook will be nice and easy to spot on the bookshelf now too!

The fabric is from Ikea, i bought it years ago but have always loved it too much to use it. Now i get to see it all the time! :oD

Now it's time to crack on with the Great Cowl KAL, i have the last short row section to do and then a couple of rows of edging and i can cast off all 368 stitches which i have a feeling might take a while!!

A Very Good Cowl Indeed!

I think it is a Very Good Cowl Indeed!

This is the second of the Great Cowl KAL patterns and the deadline is 8pm CST today so i was very happy to finish with 12 hours to spare :oD

I've used more stash yarn as that is also part of my personal challenge, this is Posh Lucia in "Scuffle" and it is SO warm and squishy! I love it!

The next pattern should be out tomorrow so i'll have to go and rummage out some super chunky. I have two different shades of pink Rowan Big Wool that will look nice together and i like the idea of a half and half cowl that i can wear either way round depending how pink i am feeling :oD

Of course, i could always save it as a Christmas or birthday for someone... Maybe! lol

The Great February Cowl Challenge

I don't know how i found out about it but i stumbled across a Cowl knitting challenge being organised by Liz Abinante, the very clever lady who designed the Travelling Woman shawl that i knit for Lisa and appear to have not blogged about!!
She's designed 5 cowls for us to make, the challenge is to finish it by each set deadline. If we do that then we get the next pattern for free and as this year is all about challenging myself i decided to give it a go :)

I cast the first cowl on on Saturday morning with a feeling of panic. I only had until 8pm CST (2am GMT) on Wednesday to finish it so i got stuck right in and knit on it all afternoon at Knit Group, i managed to knit the 3" of stocking stitch and the first two rows of the pattern and then it got put aside in favour of a stonking hangover on Sunday!!

Finished Flurries

Monday is usually our sewing day but as my machine is in for a service i indulged myself and knit on the cowl all day and i'd finished it by the evening, including sewing the buttons on and tidying away the ends :)

I had about 26g of yarn leftover and spent the evening wondering if i would have enough for a pair of matching mitts and after trawling Ravelry for some inspiration i just decided to make two mini-cowls :oD
There are more details on the Ravelry project pages of the yarn used,  my mods etc - Cowl & Mitts

Matching Mitts

I am rather pleased with how they came out and they are SO warm, i really do love the brioche stitch, it makes a warm, dense and squishy fabric which is perfect for our current cold weather!

The set!

So, the next pattern is due to be released any time now, i have my sock yarn and needles ready to cast on, and plenty of free time to knit i just hope i finish The Orange Hat first!

Quickie cowl

Yarn: Wendy Fusion
Pattern: Cowl'd and frosty morning
Mods: None

Cast on 61sts as per instructions but it could have done with just a few more really to give it a bit of looseness, but i am really pleased with how the colours came out and it goes perfectly with my new dark grey winter coat :o)