FO: a thousand splendid lakes

I love me some cowls, I have knit 13 of them since the start of 2011, long and short, cabled and lace.  Here is another one for the stash.  The yarn, a merino, cashmere, silk blend is so fantastically luscious and the pattern as easy to follow but engaging.

The designer of the pattern called it "a thousand splendid suns", my variation (thanks to the color and my geography) made me think of all the thousands of little lakes that are to be found in and around the Georgian Bay area.  Each lake unique and slightly misshapen, much like my little circles, most are about the same size but each were made at a slightly different tension so they are all unique and interesting in their own way, and not in fact a mistake in the pattern.

I think this cowl reminds how beautiful and fun a simple (ie. not tonal or varigated or sparkly) knit in a simple pattern (ie. not a complex lace pattern) can be really beautiful and wonderful to wear.

- Details -

Project Name: a thousand splendid lakes

Pattern: a thousand splendid suns by Cecilia Flori

Recipient: Me

Yarn: Rapture by Squoosh Fiberarts in Beachcomber

Modifications: None

New Skills:

• Turned Hem - I have done one before but this is the first time it didn't suck
• Sun/Lake Motif - The slipped stitches required to make the suns was a unique stitch I don't think I a

Feedback:

• Yarn: Very, very nice yarn.  The color is very vibrant and the base is so yummy.  It is a similar blend to madelinetosh Pashmina, but I don't have any so I can't compare.  My one surprise  was how much it draped during blocking.  I didn't put it under any tension and I swear it doubled in size. I am still happy with it, but for sweater makers, a little swatch blocking would be a good thing for this yarn.
• Pattern: A good, error-free short (which is a bonus) pattern.  The instructions were clear and the finished object looked like the photo.

Re-Knit?: Probably not, it is a cool pattern but the resulting cowl is an awkward size for me (too short for two wraps and too long to be tight on a single loop).  But it is very, very cool and a great color, and very, very soft.

WIP Wednesday: April 18th

I had a fairly busy weekend so not much fiber art-ing happened, and there have been no changes to the stole or spinning in the past week.  Both the socks are coming along although they need to speed up considerably for either pair to be finished by the end of the month. I have 8 of 12 repeats done on the cowl and so that should be finished up in a night or two of focused work.

I am nearly done with the cloth I have on the loom right now.  I am finally getting my selvages looking good and balanced between sloppy and too drawn-in.  I totally messed up the warp tension on this, however I am pressing on and learning the proper techniques (note to self, don't finger comb the warp before it is tied onto the fabric beam and get a better warp separator).

At the very top are some rolags I made this morning with the hand cards I picked up many moons ago.  I downloaded a whole bunch of Interweave videos this past week, one of which is the How I Card video that highlights 4 different handcarding techniques.  While watching the video I finally got the nerve to break out the handcards and some Cormo fleece I got from bohoknitterchic and start carding.  I am really loving the rolags and I will probably be swapping out my bobbins so that I can start spinning them.

I have heard rumors it is going to be a nasty weekend so I may get some good hands-on fiber time and finish up a few projects (and maybe start a few others, my tatting showed up on Monday).

WIP Wednesday: March 21st