So I really meant to blog last December, honestly I did. I went from a fabulous 5 day knitting retreat in early November to holiday preparation. Then I had the brilliant idea of doing an Advent Ornament KALendar.
While it was fun, it was a daily chore and my blogging has fallen right off.
It’s 2018 and I’m back now with a pattern that’s been on and off the needles for months. The Cowl Necklace started out with some lovely Rowan Softyak DK yarn and some darker beads. What I wanted to figure out was, “What can I make with this beautiful yarn?”
The answer turned out to also be the answer to so many of my personal requirements:
- a garment warm to wear in a cold office, but pretty and with beads (unless you don’t want beads)
- reversible
- a one-skein project (~100g), great with hand-dyed yarn
- works for multiple weights (fingering, DK, worsted)
- simple stitch patterns mean you can easily pick it up & figure out what to do
- beads are pre-strung (half at the beginning, half near the end), so the project is portable
Naturally, I had to try this again with some Tosh I had in the stash and some gold beads:
And then some fingering weight Riverside Studio yarn in blues and greens with blue beads:
And then some gorgeous Neighborhood Fiber Co Studio DK in Banksy with black beads:
Aaah. And then I was finally done with knitting (probably). I’ve written up the pattern in 3 yarn weights (fingering, DK, worsted) and 2 lengths (single loop or double loop). And I have to hold myself back from knitting another one. It’s so much fun, and I feel like I made a dent in the stash!
What yarn and beads do you already own that you can quickly transform into a lovely bead-weighted cowl?
The pictures are something a little different for me. Earlier this week a knitwear designer received some criticism on her photoshoots and comments were made about “real bodies”. I usually use my lovely friend Francine as my model. I’ve had other great friends step in and help out too. I decided to try something different.I also dealt with my lifelong discomfort of being photographed and stepped in for a few shots. Then my daughter and her dear friend helped me out as well. Thanks girls!
We all had a good time and I’m thrilled with how things turned out.
The Cowl Necklace is $3 USD on Ravelry and it’s a fairly simple fun pattern.
