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 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.