Lace Cowl from Rainbow Yarn & Fibres - Done!

Cowl Complete!

True to expectations, today is a bright, brisk Fall-feeling day—the perfect day to try out my Lace Cowl.

I find I like both sides equally in terms of design.  And they are similar enough that you can double-loop it and twist it around to serve as a cozy neck warmer or leave it as a larger, open loop around your neck—closer to infinity scarf than cowl when you do that.  The length is perfect for such adaptability.

It is marvelously soft, but I do find it a tad itchy to wear next to my skin—Alpaca does that to me for some reason.  Still, given the chunky nature of the fiber, I don’t see it spending time next to my bare neck very often—this will be a layering piece, to be sure.  I reserve the right to add a pretty pin, too.

All in all, a sturdy basic that makes for a pleasant project or ideal gift knitting.  Thanks, Rainbow Yarn and Fibres!

Next week, we’ll meet this months Reader Who Knits and start in on Yarniverse’s Fresh Till Cowl—good stuff, so stick around!

Lace Cowl from Rainbow Yarn & Fibres - Day 5

Binding off...

The nice thing about a cowl is that there’s not a huge amount of yardage to think about when you are knitting until you run out of yarn.  I’ve done some shawls where you are stuck calculating hundreds of stitches to see if you need to stop at this row, or do a few more.  That wasn’t the case here.  I could eyeball it easily, and be confident I knew when to stop.  

Plus, cowls only need to be so wide, you know?  Too much bulk, and you feel like you’ve got the Cone of Shame from the vet’s office around your neck.

Now that it’s off the needles, it feels even softer.  I keep squishing it between my fingers.  It’s going to feel wonderful in January, but right now it is so hot and sticky in Chicago I can barely stand to try it on.

Because this is technically lace, I’m going to wash and block it just to see if it makes a big difference in how the pattern lays out.  I don’t anticipate that it will, but seeing as there is not a pressing need for wooly warmth at the moment, I’ll take the time.  Perhaps by the time the final episode rolls around, we’ll have some more fall-like weather.

Lace Cowl from Rainbow Yarn & Fibres - Day 4

Sheep on the ball…

With a two-ball project, there’s never any question when you reach half way.  The yarn balls do the counting for you.  Now I feel as if I’ve rounded the summit and heading back downhill toward the finish line.  And, most delightfully, the rows DON’T GET LONGER as I go!

What does happen, however, is that the thing seems to get softer.  The fiber has a wonderful, pillowy feel to it, and my hands can sense the lanolin still in the wool. It even looks sheep-colored.

Speaking of sheep, current culture seems to have a pair of them this week.  Nick Park fan that I am from the Wallace and Gromit Days, I will definitely go see the Shaun the Sheep Movie. Park is executive producer for this nearly dialogue-free movie. Park has a long history with stitchcraft: Gromit knits, and no knitter’s movie collection is ever complete without a copy of Chicken Run and its knitting hens.

Then there is this fellow.  Hiding in a cave to escape a hair cut?  Who knows, but my internet feed reported Australian rogue sheep “Chris” (Chris? Really?) was being given an emergency shearing earier this week.  The 88 pounds of wool shorn by a 5-man rescue team is being touted as both a world record and “lifesaving” for poor Chris.  I don’t imagine that fleece is any good after so much time in the wild—clearly none of the reporting newscasters I saw are knitters, or they’d have asked the question right away.  Speedy recovery, Chris.  Hope you’re not too chilly now down under.

Me?  I’ll just keep on going with my small, soft ball of yarn and my lace cowl.  The bind off won’t be long now…

As long as we’re on the subject of sheep, here’s a shot of me giving away my knitting novel The Doctor’s Undoing with the nice folks from Esther’s Place—more sheep—at Stitches Midwest.  My novella Bluegrass Easter featured a charming story taken directly from their flock, and we’ve been fiber friends ever since.

Lace Cowl from Rainbow Yarn & Fibres - Day 3

Choosing sides...

Who is to say which side is wrong?

I keep looking at this cowl, at a loss to say which side I prefer.  The “inside” has a clever, rib-like feel to it while the “outside” has all that lacy goodness going on.  Isn’t that the mark of a truly clever cowl design—that it looks good no matter how you wear it?

People feel compelled to touch it when I’m knitting in public.  Maybe it’s the latte-foam softness of the color, or just the plush nature of the yarn. I keep thinking I’d want one in a brilliant blue or red, too. Who wouldn't want half a dozen of these to choose from during a bleak Chicago winter?

Half-way through the project, completion feels wonderfully possible. Stress-free, even.  How lovely is that?

Lace Cowl from Rainbow Yarn & Fibres - Day 2

Holy yarn-overs, Batman!

Nice big needles always make for gratifyingly speedy knitting.  Some days you just need to see results, you know?  At a time when other things in my life are inching along—and that’s not a bad thing, I get that—it is nice to see this cowl taking quick shape under my fingers.

I find it interesting that I chose a beige yarn.  Lots of times I choose bright jewel tones, because I feel those match my cool coloring.  Only lately I’ve been working my way through Carol Tuttle’s Dressing Your Truth videos and my personality is definitely coming through as a  Type 3 (Rich  Dynamic), which features warm colors.  Me? Warm undertones? Really? Maybe it's an age thing.  I thought I’d sail through the process with some nice clear guidelines, but I’m only getting more and more confused as I go along.  Have any of you been through this “Beauty Profiling” course? I suppose it shouldn't surprise any of you that I seem to defy classification...

Ahem.  Back to knitting.  One thing to watch on this pattern—yarn-overing into a purl.  It’s a tricky business, because there’s an extra half-round involved in getting the yarn to where it needs to be.  If you don’t keep an eye on the tension, you’re going to get a much larger hole on one side of the stitch repeat than on the other.  

Watch your tension: a good rule for life and for knitting.

Lace Cowl from Rainbow Yarn & Fibres - Day 1

Cowl country...

I’ve done some lacy cowls, but it seems to me that the natural fibers for cowls are big, chunky yarns.  Cowls seem to need a bit of substance along with their soft fluffiness, in order not to just hang off your neck.  

And, quite frankly, I associate cowls with cold weather.  Living in Chicago, I consider myself residing smack in the middle of cowl country.  In January, we need all the help to stay warm we can get!

Tahki’s Juno is big and chunky. Its mesh structure—what Tahki calls “chainette,” which looks basicallly like knitting within knitting—makes for loads of loft without stiffness.  And with a composition of mostly alpaca with just a hint of nylon, it’s cloud-soft. Very lovely against the fingers. I chose a light neutral to show off the stitches, but the bright red or purple that it comes in might work just as well.

This feels like it will knit up quick—which is my primary requirement for gift knitting.  This has Christmas present written all over it.

…Unless you live in the far southern states.  Then, it might border on too cozy.  Still, it’s so pretty, and has just enough lacy quality, that your intended recipient might not mind.

We’ll have to see as we get farther along.  With only one repeat of the pattern done, it’s way too early to tell.