Go with the flow

I'm continuing with the Great Cowl KAL, and have successfully finished the first 3 cowls by the deadlines. Not only has this been an opportunity to practice knitting skills, but a chance to "go with the flow."

Cowl #3 started with casting on a large number of stitches, and joining in the round. I lost a few cast on stitches the first time I tried to join in the round, so the second time I just hoped I hadn't twisted it. So, of course, I discovered a twist about halfway through. I didn't have the energy to start over, so decided to just go with it. Further in the pattern I ended up slightly off on my stitch count, again, I decided to go with it. Also learning how to do short rows, and ended up with a few holes during these rows. Then I started running out of yarn. I did realize this before I started binding off, so I switched to a contrasting color from the stash and added a few rounds before binding off.

Finally finished, and it turned out longer and skinnier than I was hoping for. So, not my favorite cowl so far. But still proud of myself for finishing on time, and for being willing to experiment. I trusted that it would turn out okay. And the worst that could happen would be deciding to frog and start over. It's only yarn after all (super soft and lovely colors, but still just yarn).

I can wrap it 3 times around my neck. Thinking I'll take it to knit night next month and get a few more opinions before I decide whether to wear it or frog.

What do you think?

Creative Endeavors

Last Saturday I decided to take a break from my knitting to check out a new creative club at a local papercrafting store. I've done some scrapbooking and rubber stamping off and on since before I learned how to knit. Though there are many techniques that fall under the umbrella of "papercrafting," and I don't think I would call myself competent at any of them!

There were 13 women who showed up for the group at Paper Parachute. The beginning was introductions and getting a sense of what everyone is hoping for from the club. Then we got our first club kit - lovely paper, a stamp set, a few crystals and ribbon. Our challenge is to create a card using at least one piece of the paper and the large stamp. We can use anything else we want, and next month everyone will share what they made.

Here's the paper and stamps from the first club kit:

It was fun to try out some new techniques and get some ideas. And I find papercrafting more free form than knitting - we weren't given a pattern to follow, so there are many more possibilities. Right now this seems good and bad - with too many choices it can be difficult to figure out where to start!

I probably won't be able to attend the club meetings every month, but it seems fun so far. I'm enjoying doing different types of creative projects this month :)

Cowl Update

I have finished the first 2 cowls in the Great Cowl KAL, and am getting ready to cast on for the third! It's been a fun challenge so far, and I'm enjoying wearing my new cowls :)

Cowl #1 knit with Alexandra's Crafts Superwash Merino in Northwest Woods:



First time I added buttons to a project, so good to know it's not that hard! The buttons were from Josephine's Dry Goods in downtown Portland.

Cowl #2 knit with solstice Luna Sock in Moonstone:



Getting ready to cast on for cowl #3 with a one of a kind skein of Stricken Smitten's Sinful Sock. Can you tell I've been loving indie dyers? Who are you favorite indie dyers?

Going to cast on 368 stitches - wish me luck!

Brigid's Inspiration

So far this month I have been spending more time on crafts. February 2nd was Brigid's Day (also known as Imbolc) and I attended two different rituals with different friends for the holiday. Brigid is a Goddess of creativity and inspiration, and both celebrations involved crafting. It was fun to try different craft projects. It was also nice to work in a group and see what everyone else was making.

I also found myself more inspired to write during this time. I used to write poems all the time, but haven't been writing as much recently. Brigid is a Goddess of poetry, and I thank her for this extra burst of creativity :)

Then February 7th was the Quickening Moon (also called the Snow Moon in many traditions). Crafting again played a part in the celebration, this time in the form of collage. I hadn't gotten out the papercrafting supplied in a while, and there's just something fun about using scissors and glue sticks...

I also finished the cabled bag for my friend:


Now I'm continuing to focus on the Great Cowl KAL - finished cowl #1 and am about halfway through cowl #2. But more on that next time!

What creative projects have you been working on?

Great Cowl KAL

A few days ago I happened to stumble upon a post on the Cowl forum on Ravelry about Liz Abinante's Great Cowl KAL. I had knit Liz's Traveling Woman Shawl a few months ago, and was intrigued about the idea of a KAL. And I like cowls :)

The basic idea is the first pattern is available for free, and anyone who finishes by 2/8/12 gets another cowl pattern for free. If you don't finish in time, you can purchase the next pattern. She is planning 5 patterns in 50 days! If you want to check out the previews of the patterns and the rest of the details, look here.

I was a little worried about starting late - would I really be able to finish in time? But it seemed like a fun idea, and people on ravelry were starting to post finished projects. So I decided to go for it!

I was having trouble finding any sport weight in the stash (apparently it's the one weight of yarn I rarely ever buy) and the first yarn I swatched was too loose of a gauge. I probably could have spent more time digging in the stash for something that would work, and Friday was a rather stressful day at work, so I found myself wandering down to Urban Fiber Arts to look at sport weight yarns... Cindy had just enough sport weight yarn to give me a few options without being overwhelming. I settled on a skein of Alexandra's Crafts La Grande yarn - superwash merino handdyed in Silverton, OR. The color is NW Woods - perfect for February in Portland, don't you think?

(The color is a little washed out, but you get the idea.)

Cast on Friday night. Ran into a few problems on Saturday starting the brioche pattern, but looked through the Travelling Woman group on Ravelry for suggestions. Also got a little confused by the button hole instructions, but after looking at pictures of finished cowls it finally clicked in my brain. Today the brioche pattern went much more smoothly (maybe sleep helped? ;)

Now to find some buttons and pick out some stash yarn for the next cowl!