Cowled

It took me longer than I'd hoped, but I finally managed to finish binding off my cowl on Friday night. Though I was initially worried that it'd turn into spring as soon as I finished it, it seems I ought not to have worried: There's a winter storm warning in effect through tomorrow, and we're expected to get 3-5 inches of snow. Clearly winter is still here!

Pattern: Ruche and Welt Cowl
Yarn: Dream in Color Calm (100% domestic merino), colorway Scorched Lime, ~2.5 skeins
Needles: 40" US 8 (5.0 mm) ChiaoGoo Red Lace circs
Started/Completed: January 28/March 1

While I followed the pattern exactly, I did make one major modification in using a thicker yarn than the one I used for the sample, and I went up a needle size to accommodate it. Dream in Color Calm is relatively new to my LYS, and I'd been eyeing it for a while before I finally bought this batch. It's a 100% wool singles yarn, very much like Malabrigo Worsted, but it seems a little hardier to me because it appears to have been ever so slightly fulled. This means the yarn holds together quite nicely and doesn't kink up. Despite the fact that I was using my pointy ChiaoGoo circs, I didn't have a problem with splitting, and the finished cowl is soft and warm while still feeling pretty substantial. I don't know how this yarn would stand up if used in a sweater, but it's definitely a great accessory yarn.

I have not blocked the cowl yet, and I have a feeling that I'll gain some additional length once I do. Even unblocked, it's long enough that I can loop it around my neck twice to really block out the cold wind (which I did when I wore it over the weekend).

As soon as I finished weaving in my ends on the cowl, I felt the urge to cast on for something new, so I pulled out some really deep-stash Cascade 220 (the color used for the pink swatch seen here) and cast on for a sweater for my mother.

I'm actually test knitting my sweater pattern again, in part because I didn't have anyone signed up to test the 32" size and in part because my mother had so admired the sample that I thought I should make her one. As an added bonus, I'll be getting another sweater's lot of yarn out of my stash when I'm done. I've already separated the arms from the body and gotten in a few rows below that. Assuming the weather cooperates tomorrow evening and I'm able to make it to knit night, I'll be hoping to put in a few more inches on the body. It's amazing how much faster a smaller adult sweater knits up than one that's in my size!