Willow Cowl from Sin City Knit Shop - Done!

Now that I've bound off the top edge of the Willow Cowl, I'm impressed with how light it is.  The ripples do exactly what they were designed to do, allowing the fabric to lay nicely against the neck.  It's a perfect spring or fall accessory--more style than warmth, but plenty of sparkle.

I find myself wondering how it would behave in a sturdier fiber such as a nice sensible wool DK.  I wouldn't want it in a solid, but some of the hand-dyed or self-striping yarns might make for a lovely piece if I knit it again.

Well done, Sin City Knit Shop--I definitely left Vegas a winner!

Next up, we hop to the other side of the country and return to Raleigh, NC.

Willow Cowl from Sin City Knit Shop - Day 5

...And again.

I’ll admit, I’d like this to be a bit more exciting by now.  This cowl would be what I call a “Little League” project—something good to do while the majority of your attention is on something else.  I got a tremendous amount of knitting done while my son was in community baseball.  The mom in me wanted to be there, sitting and watching.  The businesswoman in me had trouble swallowing all that downtime.  So I knit.  And knit and knit. 

This is what keeps me addicted to knitting—it ensures no waiting or watching (or sitting in poorly run committee meetings) is ever in vain.

Fortunately, coverage of the Olympics has provided lots of sitting-in-front-of-the-television time.  Depending upon how much yarn I’ve got left (and I’ve got about half of what I started with), I’m looking at either one more repeat of the lace pattern, or two.  While I’m all for larger garments being a larger gal myself, I’m not sure I’ve got two lace pattern repeats in me.  I’m feeling a case of the “I wanna be done”s coming on.

There is a common syndrome among writers where once the end is in sight of your current book, a bunch of new characters begin singing their siren song in your ear.  It’s difficult to ignore all the fun new stories calling your name and stick to the discipline required to finish the book at hand.  

The same is true of knitting—today, all kinds of new yarn is calling my name.

I am a professional.  I will plug my ears, attach my blinders, and press on toward the finish line!

Willow Cowl from Sin City Knit Shop - Day 3

Bi-Partisan Yarn-overs?

Now we get into the alternating patterns that enable this cowl to stack up so nicely.  I’ve accomplished one of each.  Actually, I found it rather ironic that I did one during the Republican National Convention, and the other during the Democratic National Convention.  There’s a metaphor in there somewhere, but I’m not quite sure what it is (or perhaps am better off not saying).  In any case, this year I made an effort to watch both conventions and scan a fact-checking site for review of each of the acceptance speeches.   So the only political cry you’ll hear from me is this: inform yourselves, and get your info from somewhere other than Facebook.

Maybe the best lesson in all this is that it takes BOTH patterns to let this cowl show all its beauty.  And that it takes lots of individual stitches (and voters, and candidates, and issues) to make up the whole.  And how one knitter can embrace many different stitches.

NeslisHandcrafts photo

Sure, it’s a cantankerous election year here in the U.S.  But knitters of all kinds can agree that our love of fiber knits us together, yes?

Willow Cowl from Sin City Knit Shop - Day 2

Going for the gold...

Well, you know, that didn’t turn out too badly.  It was tedious going, picking up that cast on edge, and I’m not quite sure I lined everything up perfectly.  In hindsight, I think it would have been smart to pin it in quarters like a hem. As it was, things didn’t quite match up at the end and I think the two sides were a little slanted on either side of the fold for the last inch.

Still, the edge has that lovely scalloped look that we all want from a picot edging. It also has a sturdy quality that will help it lay nicely.  As I mentioned, the way this cowl is structured impresses me.  It’s built to ripple nicely into almost concentric circles, thanks to an alternation of yarn-over lace and stockinette.

I’m using the first rows of yarn-over lace to build my continental yarn-over skills.  Often, when facing KTOG or YO, I default to my usual English throw style, but I’ve decided it’s time to improve my continental toolbox beyond the knit stitch.

I find I’m enjoying the little bit of sparkle in this fiber.  Normally I don’t go for the shiny stuff.  I don’t even use frosted lipstick or nail polish.  But this hint of gold somehow works, and it doesn’t feel like it will end up itchy.

Willow Cowl from Sin City Knit Shop - Day 1

Sunset stitches...

After all those tiny size 0 stitches in the Yellow Rose Mitts, these size 5 needles feel delightfully large.  The stitches are still delicate—I’m not a fan of chunky scarves or cowls—but not tiny.  The continual rounds of stockinette make for quick knitting and fast progress.  That’s the ideal compliment to the slow-going intricacy of my earlier project.  Knitting is delightfully diverse that way.

Now, my history with picot edging is a sketchy one.  It doesn’t always work nicely for me, so I can say I’m nervous that it won’t turn out to my satisfaction.  I’ve got the necessary rows laid out flat now, and my next step will be to execute the classic fold-over that picks up the stitches from the cast-on row and creates the charming little points we think of for picot edging.

Red Rocks  Entertainment photo

I’d never put oranges, pinks, and roses together—they’re not colors I usually wear.  Still, I like this “Red Rock” colorway.  It not only calls up the memory of my evening at Colorado’s famed Red Rocks amphitheater (so memorable I made it the location for a scene in my book The Firefighter’s Match), but looks to me like the colors of a sunset in the desert.  At least what I’d imagine sunsets in the desert to look like, since I tend to shun very hot places.

Of course, Vegas is just that—a place in the desert—but I don’t think the view from my hotel window really qualifies.

Onward to see if I can master the picot edge.