Showing posts with label Cowl. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cowl. Show all posts

01 October 2017

Pattern: Urchin Plumes

Urchin Plumes 

by Kathleen Dames

US$6 on Ravelry (no account necessary)


What to do with six gorgeous tidbits of color in Backyard Fiberworks kits? Use them ALL, of course! By bringing together Garter Stitch sections of one-ridge stripes with thick stripes of Urchin Plumes lace, you get the best of both worlds in a cozy cowl in two sizes, depending upon just how cozy you want to be.

Urchin Plumes lace is provided in both charted and written form. If you are new to lace, it's a great start because you only work the pattern every fourth row. If you are experienced with lace, did you notice that this is really Ostrich Plumes? I couldn't resist changing the name to align with my favorite shade in the Dove in a Plum Tree kit from Backyard Fiberworks. Which of the six delicious shades is your favorite?

What you'll love about knitting Urchin Plumes

  • A chance to put one of those gorgeous kits to good use (or 400/800yds of your favorite sock yarn - this is a great pattern for stash diving and using up your favorite leftovers)
  • Satisfy your lace knitting urge, then balance it out with a bunch of garter stitch
  • Finishing is quick with just two short seams (and a bunch of ends to weave in - I tried to come up with a clever solution for this, but there's just no good way around it)

What you'll love about wearing Urchin Plumes
  • Wear your cowl long for drama or short for warmth
  • Show off two delightfully different textures in one piece
  • Large cowl can be worn as a shoulder wrap, too

Sizes

42-inch circumference, 7 (14)-inch depth. Shown in smaller size.

Materials

Backyard Fiberworks Dove in a Plum Tree kit: 400 (800) yds/100 (200) g total of fingering weight 100% Merino wool

  • A: Urchin 66 (133) yds 
  • B: Hosta 66 (133) yds 
  • C: Plume 66 (133) yds 
  • D: Dove 66 (133) yds 
  • E: Ume 66 (133) yds 
  • F: Walnut 66 (133) yds 

US3 29-inch circular needle (or longer to accommodate a large number of stitches) or size needed to obtain gauge
Stitch markers
Tapestry needle

Gauge

24 sts x 48 rows = 4 inches in Garter Stitch
16 sts x 32 rows = 2 1/4 x 3 3/4 inches in Urchin Plumes after blocking

Thanks!

Photography: Nick Dames
Technical editing: Corrina Ferguson/Picnic Knits



Everything you need to create your own beautiful Urchin Plumes is provided in the professionally designed (by me!) pattern. Instructions to create small and larger versions of the cowl plus charted and written versions of Urchin Plumes lace are included.


17 April 2015

quick + purly: 5 cowls

Spring spring springspring SPRING! Now that the weather is improving, I'm starting to look for portable projects that I can work on outside. Cowls (a.k.a. circular scarves) seem like a great option:

  • worked in the round = less likely to lose a DPN
  • one skein of yarn = squeeze it into a bag
  • repetitive pattern = easy to remember
Circular scarves continue to be part of the uniform for so many people, at least here in NYC. They add a touch of flair to your outfit and make temperature fluctuations (inside and out) more bearable.


  1. Appia by Hilary Smith Callis $5 USD 
  2. loggia by Asa Tricosa €4 
  3. Dandelion Days by Chrissy Prange $4 USD 
  4. Jemma Cowl by Carolyn Kern $4 USD 
  5. Apollo and Daphne Cowl by Katie Carmack $4 USD 
All images from the patterns' Ravelry pages. No copyright infringement intended - I just want to share the love!

Do you have a favorite cowl I missed? There are so many pretties! Oftentimes I wear a wide-triangle shawl bandit-style around my neck, but the cowl has one significant advantage: no ends to wrestle with.

Thanks for stopping by, and happy knitting!
xoxo, Kathleen

22 July 2008

FO: Razor Shell Cowl




Pattern: Razor Shell Cowl (my own pattern)
Yarn: Misti Alpaca Lace, colorway 7120 (sea foam)
Needle: US4 16"

Apologies for the dismal photographs. I'll have to work on my self-portrait setup some more, perhaps get the tripod out.

Anyway, here is a birthday gift for a dear friend, capitalizing on the current cowl craze sweeping the knitblogosphere (is that how you spell it?). This was such a quick knit, despite using laceweight yarn. Even doubling leaves you with a thin-ish yarn, perhaps closer to fingering weight, but it's so light. Having just complained about this yarn used single, I'm happy to report such a pleasant experience with it doubled. I'll have to weigh this item to see just how much yarn was used, as I had two skeins to pull from (the next project OTN uses doubled Misti Alpaca Lace as well, but I only have one skein, so the experience there is a little different).

I used one of the Razor Shell variations from one of Barbara Walker's Treasuries and just knit away for twelve inches and used the k2tog tbl bindoff method I've found so nice and stretchy for shawls. No one wants to struggle to get a cowl over their heads!

Another birthday alpaca FO to come shortly...

08 August 2007

Flitting

I've been swatching while coming down from the Icarus high.

First up is some Euroflax in, surprise!, blue. Unfortunately, my Bryspun US3 snapped about halfway through. Worn out from Icarus, I guess. I finished the swatch on US4. Clearly, the smaller needle size is better, but it's still a somewhat sheer fabric. Washing and drying it completely in the machine helped the hand. I don't have a US2 at hand, so I can't swatch it on twos, but I'm not sure I'd want to do a lot of stockinette on a two anyway for an entire skirt. Oh, right, I bought the yarn (on sale) to make the lacey skirt from Greetings from Knit Cafe. Jody beat me to it on doing the skirt in linen, and it's very cute. Love the variegated colorway! Anyway, here are the swatches. I think this project is going into a timeout until I can figure things out (get a US2 needle to swatch). Perhaps this will end up as something other than the skirt.



And here we have the love child of Cheryl Niamanth's Wisp and Jared's Scholar Collar in BMFA's Bliss (70% angora/30% wool blend) in the Periwinkle colorway. Sorry they don't have it on the site, except in the Angora Boot Sock kit; I bought the yarn at The Fold. As you can see I blocked the heck out of it (and really need to get my hands on some blocking wires). This is a garter stitch (Scholar Collar influence) cowl, essentially, and I'm going to complete the circle with some ribbon through the yarn-overs on the short edges (Wisp touch).

This yarn is divine, though it does shed. I tried to get a picture of the fluff on my t-shirt, but it's not easy to snap a pic of your tum. Hehe. I used the whole skein (100 yds.), and it only took me a few days of distracted knitting to finish this up on US9s (Bryspun, natch).


And here is my first Koigu. Isn't the colorway (P33231 - fuchsia, ballet, mocha, and lilac) beautiful! I think I may make a Clapotis with it. Someone on the Knitlist mentioned gifting three skeins to a friend, so when I was at Three Bags Full yesterday with a gift certificate burning a hole in my pocket, I thought "why not?". I also bought some yummy yarn for a surpirse project, but the intended recipient reads the blog, so it will stay sooper secret until it's been gifted.


So, guys and dolls, that's where I am. It's pouring here, and Miss Isobel is still napping, so I'm catching up on Top Chefs.

12 March 2007

Cowls

They're going to be huge for fall, people. Check out Andrea's post on knitted cowls for fall. Of course, the color for fall is grey, but then the cowl can probably be another color.

I have my eye on some Malabrigo Super Bulky, perhaps. Damask or Tuscan Sky for color? Paris Night or Plata for grey? I heart Malabrigo - it's so soft. But there is a downside to the softness: It pills.

But maybe I should find a non-thick-and-thin yarn for this. What about Blizzard? Yarns in the Farms carries it (always a quality indicator), and it comes in a nice heathery grey. My first hats were from this, and I still wear mine, though it gets a little stretchy. Alpaca may not have the sproinginess I'm looking for. What? I say it's a word.

YITF also carries Misti Alpaca Chunky, which also comes in a dark, heathery grey, and is a heavy-worsted, plied yarn.

Blue Sky Alpacas has their bulky yarns, which come in lovely shades, including a grey fox in the naturals that I rather like. But, again, the alpaca may not be the right fiber for this project. And a multi-ply yarn might be helpful, too. I think the cowl should be somewhat crisp.

But I should probably hold off on any decisions until the Lobster Pot Yarns come in. Oops! Was I allowed to tell?