Better Cowl

We're off to New Zealand in September for the Rugby World Cup.  A cowl that keeps my neck and head warm will be of more use than a scarf and hat and it needs to be light weight as luggage weights are tight.

As the alpaca cowl didn't meet all of those requirements, I looked for another pattern.  The Imagination Cowl from Knitpicks was just the thing.

Knitted in Moda Vera Noir sock yarn (bought for less than $6 a ball at Scablight last Christmas sales), it took all of two x 100 gram balls.

I mistook the pattern initially but the flared lower edge works brilliantly and sits over my shoulders, while the ruching pattern keeps it close enough to the neck and face for warmth without strangulation.

This one is a winner.

The pattern is free.  It is Ravelled here and on the Knitpicks website here.

Alpaca Cowl

Knitted while we were up north with Mum this year.  It's a very easy pattern, but I am universally acknowledged as lace challenged and spent a good deal of time tinking this. 

Starting it in the car was not the best decision.

I used stash 5ply pure alpaca.  The ends curl and could have done with a few more rows of garter stitch.  Also it's not long enough to adequately cover the back of the neck while simultaneously keeping the ears warm.  Really needs another pattern repeat.  As it is, it will make a lovely neckwarmer. and fulfills my other requirements - lightweight and warm.

The pattern is the Fresco Basket Whip Cowl.  It is Ravelled here and free online here. 

Faith - a - faith - a - faith - a

I'm not the only one who has had incredulous comments about knitting in the current heatwave.

But I have faith. Winter will come and I have 5.5 cowls since last Wednesday to prove it.

And the Brumbies will replicate their 28-14 win over the Hurricanes in a trial match last Friday in the actual season.

Another act of faith.

Moebius Dickhead

Made this Moebius cowl three weeks ago but it's been on my head so much photography hasn't happend. Quickly snapped this on the front porch in the fog this morning.

It's 100g of handspun bought from Boorowool at the Great Southern Merino Show in January. Glorious autumnal russets and olives. Not my usual colours, but I love it.

I made a moebius cowl last year out of a a really springy 12ply crepe and it almost strangled me. I friend with a smaller neck claimed and it's been to Japan, New Zealand and South America in the last 12 months.

This thick and thin handspun is knitted much looser (roughly 8ply yarn on a 6mm needle) and it drapes beautifully. I forgot to alternate knit and purl rows, though, and ended up with half in stocking, half in reverse stocking stitch. I don't mind so much, but I'd do garter or a lace next time. There will be a next time for this technique.

It's a vital piece of excercise equipment. I wear my hair up and this protects the "do" from the wind and my ears and neck from the cold when I'm out walking.

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Georgie commented that she's genetically programmed to stockpile, too.

I was thinking about this yesterday when I bought the extra shirt for my brother to put away for Christmas. Was buying it in the spirit of the challenge? What's so wrong with snapping things up on special anyway?

Well, nothing is wrong with buying a lot of something at a good price. My problem is that I don't use the stuff as much as I should. For example, I have 30 or so small tins of tuna in my larder. I bought them when they were on a super special of about 50c at tin. Good buy - I'd do it again. But now I'm hoarding them rather than using them. This challenge is about using some of the stuff.

At the beginning of the year, a year in which I challenged myself to live more simply, I worked out on a spreadsheet how much of the larder staples I would need for a year so I could buy a reasonable amount at a reduced price and maybe in larger bags to cut back on packaging etc.

When the coffee I love was on special from $20 to $16 for a kilo, I bought a year's worth. It doesn't go off and no little tins or little bags for 250g, I just decant a kilo into Tupperware containers and freeze.

The problem: I bought beans rather than ready ground. I do have a grinder but it's small and messy and the noise is hideous. It's designed to do small amounts occasionally. It does not like doing a week's worth to take to work in one session, for example, and it's electric - surely an unneccesary use of electricity. So the bags of coffee sit in the larder and when the coffee came on special again recently I bought 2k of the ready ground variety. That's hoarding and lazy. It's what I'm trying to stop.

I'm over here

Computer viruses, human viruses and family dramas have left me a little behind in the posting stakes - sorry all and thanks to Kate and Gillian for checking in (within minutes of each other - how spooky is that?).

I have not been idle. There's this sweet little grey mystery mohair (stash busting 3 balls of it) kerchief knitted from a pattern in Yarn issue 2 to get me out of my knitting malaise of a couple of weeks ago.

And there's this mystery 12 ply (stash busting again!) moebius scarf from Simply Knitting (UK) Spring 2006 issue.

The moebius is REALLY easy to do and I enjoyed it a lot. I'm trying to find the headspace to design one for a specific wool (also in stash) that will be a cowl for me. I wear my hair up most of the time (I am a librarian, after all, so it's part of the dress code). A hat is therefore out of the question. A cowl I can pull over my head and ears is what I'm after and this technique is so compact with none of those messy scarf ends dangling in the breeze. It also makes one feel ever so clever knitting it.

It was edge of the seat knitting. I've never seen one in the flesh, so to speak, nor seen anyone knit one, so I was knitting blind and loving it. I have rediscovered my joie de tricot!

Continued right away - Blogger won't let me add more photos.