finished-object Friday

I haven't posted an FO in fucking forever, because I haven't knitted in forever.  No, seriously: forever.  This is a cowl I knitted for Pretty, Reagan-Baby Neighbor. I started it a long time ago, and wasn't too speedy about it. I don't know, I'm just meh abt knitting lately. By "lately," I mean the latter part of 2010, and all of 2011 and 2012, mostly. There were socks, but that is all. I think one pair of gorgeous cashmere socks made it out of here without a photo shoot. I distinctly recall being gripped by wanting.

I started out, way in the beginning, wanting it to be something I knitted for myself. Here is what happened: I saw the pattern at Jimmy Beans Wool for the "Double-Wrap Cowl."  I thought it looked sensational (!) and warm (!). The yarn came to my house & I let it sit so long that when I found the box (of yarn), I couldn't remember what project it was for. Seriously. Then I couldn't find a pattern that seemed right, so I finally emailed Beans & said, "I ordered [this much yardage] of [this yarn] to knit something from a free pattern you featured: can you help?" They were super-helpful.

 

By then, so much time had gone by that PR-BN was moving on to take a job in Bemidgi, Minn. She turned to Mari & me for a crash-course in winter-survival & we told her everything we knew, plus passed along anything we were able to solicit on her behalf from natives of points more Northern than the latitude from which Mari & I hail. I counseled her on the matter of silk long-johns and spring blizzards, and decided, as I cast on this project, that it would be for her.

It was straightforward knitting -- essentially a long & wide piece, fashioned into a kind of möbius strip at the join. You do that by flipping the end before you make the seam, so that it will lie flat against your body, as Allison models above. I crocheted the seam on this, which can sometimes be a lumpy mess, particularly with heavier-gauge yarns.  Thankfully, this yarn is black, alpaca is really kind of shiny, and it turned out fine.  The upside to crocheting, instead of mattress stitch, is it will never come apart, not at the seam, anyway.

The seam-construction worked out pretty well on the front side of the garment, and since it is it's all twisted-up, anyway, it hardly shows.  I'm extremely pleased with the way it turned out.

Of course, the minute I gave it to her -- while she was visiting during all these long, gouty holidays -- the weather changed & now I want one of my own. Ribbing is so fucking boring, although one can knit with any flat-lying stitch. Anyhow. I also have regrets about how the yarn in use is black; that was fine when it was for me, but PR-BN is fair, and delicate, like a summer wind. Not at all like a Veronica-Lodge gun moll.

 

 

Brrrrr!  It's really pretty nice.  You can work out the doubling pretty fast, without effing around with your coat. If I make myself one, Fille will be wanting one.  But! I could have her knit her own, in a knitalong with her.  Exhausting! 

Let's talk about the kids next time.  Only three more days of gout!  Love to you, à bientôt xo

Edit: it's been so long since I've had finished-object Friday, I couldn't even remember the format. I knitted this from the Cocoknits Double-Wrap Cowl pattern, using the 2 skeins of Plymouth Baby Alpaca Grande they recommend. The instructions say to use any flat-lying stitch & I picked 2x2 rib. I wanted it to be a little stretchy because the quality of alpaca's fiber memory is rich for debating. Generally, I go up a needle size to compensate for my tight knitting, but I left it this time, at 10.5mm. From cast-on to wet-blocking & seaming, it took over a year. It would have taken long-enough even before my dawdling since I knit out of my right hand. You can do it faster. Do it.

Comments

[becky]

That looks so nice! And in alpaca, divine. I love the way it looks doubled up. I bet she will treasure that.

[lala]

Thanks, Becky! Alpaca is really, really warm. And it can have such a pretty sheen.

I was trying to keep it light & knitty (& also was blogging from my phone, lol), but I will tell you: the other reason I shifted this from my project to hers was that I already have [nice things] a bunch of gorgeous neckwear, some of which I made, and it isn't even really cold here; not like I know abt cold, anyway. In Northern Minn, she could at least have one good one. She doesn't even know what she needs! xo