Quick Cowl

I spent a weekend with my sister in Pasadena a few weeks ago. Out of character, I did not bring a project with me. Most of the time I bring something with me to work on wherever I go but then never work on it. This time I decided I'd packed enough and did not think I would have time anyway. Well...

I stayed an extra night and suddenly I was desperate for some handwork. Skein is a shop nearby that I had not been to in many years. I checked to see if the shop was open and I had one hour to get there and buy something.

The proprietor was great. She showed me lots of easy one skein projects I could pick up quickly. I settled on a cotton yarn and a sample cowl in the shop that I could manage without a lot of thought. Of course I needed knitting needles too.

This yarn...

Became this cowl...

Here it is flat...

Super easy! Using size 9, 16" circular needles, cast on multiples of 8 plus 7 stitches. Join in the round. Knit 4, purl 4. Continue until you want to bind off or when you run out of yarn. I cast on 95 stitches to make a tall cowl. You could cast on 119 stitches for a longer loop that's narrower.

I used the whole ball of yarn. I had 47 inches left. Did I say super easy already?!?

Studio 49 Retreat 2017 Challenge part 3

I changed my mind.

It happens often when thinking about a project. I start with one idea and it morphs into something else until finally I start. Then it morphs again. This is what's going on now with my Retreat challenge project.

The hand spun yarn was going to be a hat. I made a gauge swatch to determine what size knitting needle I wanted to use. I started with size 7 at the bottom of the swatch. That's what the pattern calls for. The middle section is size 6 needle and then the top is size 5. I placed the swatch on a stitch holder because I didn't want to cut the yarn. I intend to use every bit.

The change of plan arose when I realized that I was not enjoying knitting this yarn. I like knitting with my hand spun yarn but this one didn't feel nice or fun. I don't know why. The yarn is soft and stretchy. Lovely to hold and touch, but not to knit with apparently.

My eyes lit upon my 10" Cricket rigid heddle loom and BOOM! I had a new idea.

I am going to weave a scarf. Having limited yardage presented some challenges; 232 yards of white, 155 yards of grey. Not a lot of yarn for weaving. So I set about trying to figure out what to make with what I had. I started with the 10 dent heddle and a Fibonacci sequence in the warp. I calculated a basic scarf at 8"x72" and discovered I did not have enough yarn. I want to feature the white Polwarth with a few grey BFL stripes.

I was inspired by the Biscuits and Jam Scarf by Sarah Jackson featured in the May/June issue of Handwoven Magazine. I'm lucky enough to be a fellow guild member of Sarah's and saw the beautiful scarf in person at the SCWSG June meeting. She wove hers in cotton with beaded weft fringes. Then sewed the ends together to make a circular scarf. I really liked the weft fringe idea.

I made drafts on paper first. Then I made a yarn wrap to see if I liked how the Fibonacci sequence looked.

I drew a scarf close to 1/8" scale and made more calculations. One set with 80 ends for an 8" wide scarf and one with 70 ends. I have just enough yarn (I think/hope) to make a scarf 7" wide with a weaving length of 60". There will be a small plaid section where I put another Fibonacci sequence in the weft at one end of the scarf.

If I run out of white weft then it will be a little shorter. But that's OK since I want to sew the ends together to make a loop and wear it like a cowl anyway.

I think I'm ready to start...