Another addition to my holiday basket. I searched the web looking for a candy cane cowl but nothing matched the image in my head. So, I made up my own pattern. (You can wear it either side out for a slightly different look). I think I might make several one-of-a-kind candy cane cowls--because I'd vary the pattern on each one. Maybe it works for Valentine's Day as well. Shoot, pin on something blue and it can even be patriotic.
I found some really soft bulky yarn too warm for summer. Who knows when I'll be too busy to knit. So I figured why not knit some projects for the holidays for me for gifts, maybe for a holiday craft fair. So here is a simple cowl, Not sure why I didn't put a twist in it, but actually, I like it this way. It took an entire skein of the red yarn.
Don't you just love it when a project comes out perfectly? Well, I just love this scarf. I'm not guaranteeing there isn't an incorrect stitch somewhere, but this thing came out great.
Yarn: Lion Bran Mixed Berries (color 202) bulky (5), 144 yard skein. I used most of the skein. In fact, I was considering adding another row or two just so I wouldn't have any left over, but the cowl was on the verge of being too high already. (I'm hoping there's enough for an ascot type cowl, but I don't think so--maybe mixed with another yarn). I used #15 circular needles (I think--largest ones I've got). Cast on 80 stitches. Make sure there are no twists and then add only one twist. K2P2 for four rounds. Next row: k3p3 all the way. k2tog last two stitches of that row (round). k2. Then p3k3. Just keep up this pattern. The pattern is offset one stitch so it goes on an angle toward your dominant hand. Continue for a total of 12 rounds (above the first 4 ribbed stitch) Let's see if I can explain what I did next to reverse the direction of the angle. You should be looking at 3 purl stitches above which you would have done p2k1 for the pattern. But instead, you are going to continue do two more knit stitches. Then go back to your pattern of p3k3 for almost one round. When you get back to the beginning you will notice that you have too many knit stitches. The pattern toward the dominant hand was 79 stitches--one too many (a multiple of 6 plus 1) to make the offset angle. Reversing the angle needs 77 stitches (a multiple of 6 minus 1). So you need to ktog twice. Then you can continue with the p3k3 offset the other way for 11 more rounds (total of 12). End with four rows of rib stitch (for mine I did k1p1 but you can keep with the k2p2). Cast off, weave in thread and voila. There's no right or wrong side and no top or bottom. Wear however you like and adjust the twist the way you want. The color may say very berry, but it looks more red and orange to me so put it on and set your outfit ablaze. When I was a kid, I was taught to fold a scarf in half and then loop the ends through the fold. This maximizes warmth on your chest under your coat for really cold days. I've been thinking about this a lot and how to kind of recreate this, like a cowl does, without all the extra hanging down, but somehow different from a cowl. I came across the concept of the knitted ascot so I gave it a try--making it a tad longer because I didn't want it snug around the neck. Ideally, I really am imagining something a little more substantial (this is more decorative). I may try another that is thicker--halfway between this and a cowl, maybe, The trick is making the ends wider so the one you slip through the hole stays put. Yes, this involves a couple of rows of double knitting--two sides--only without sealing them up on the edges so you have a sort of loop to pull one side of the scarf through.
This really is a shower mat. I have always used a towel on the floor, but when I was searching around for knitting ideas, I saw a mat by a bed and thought I could adapt it for my bathroom. When I got home from buying the yarn, I realized that it cost probably as much as a bathmat. But then I remembered that the point was for it to match my bathroom. That actually proved difficult. Not only was it a challenge to find colors that matched, but to have all the yarn be the same size. I mean I know that with #4, it varies from one brand to the next. It was the same with 6 and 7. So, back at home, I realized I had purple and a lighter purple (turns out it's the lighter one that matches my cabinets not the darker), an off white that ideally could have used just a touch of pink/peach, and a varying color because the blue in it matched the blue that is the third color (I have a blue and purple soap dispenser, and I had painted all the picture frames/mats to go with these three colors). It did not turn out at all like I planned. Still, using the offwhite around the edge kind of ties it all together.
I used size 15 needles (the biggest we had) and cast on 56 stitches of the purple. I tried to use half the skein. In the end (after doing the other side), I had a little left over--maybe enough for one more row on either side. The hardest part was adding the offwhite after I had knit the rest of it. This meant picking up the stitches and using a bunch of needles to hold all the cast on stitches. I really could have planned it better. But being a beginner shows; I just don't know how to gage (pardon the pun) how much yarn something uses or how much of a project a skein of yarn is. |
AboutA left-hander's perspective on a right-handed world. Archives
August 2016
Categories |