Weekend Wraps

The newest addition to my knitting library is Weekend Wraps: 18 Quick Knit Cowls, Scarves & Shawls by Cecily Glowik MacDonald and Melissa LaBarre. Every pattern inside uses worsted weight or heavier yarn, and most of the designs are smallish accessories that you really can whip up in a weekend. I was particularly drawn to the architectural aspects of Emma Welford's Post & Beam Cowl. I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for cables. They are deceptively simple to create, yet pack a pretty good punch in the final product.

I dove into the stash for the required aran weight yarn. The pattern called for 170 yards, and I just happen to have 176 yards of the discontinued Debbie Bliss Rialto Aran (color #21208) that's been languishing in the stash for, oh, 7 YEARS. It seemed like kismet... until my gauge swatch revealed the Rialto to be a slightly thinner aran than the recommended Quince & Co. Osprey. Unphased, I pushed onward, casting on enough extra stitches for a couple more repeats of the cable pattern to keep my cowl roughly the same circumference as intended.

Since I was casting on more stitches, I was a little afraid I wouldn't have enough yardage to obtain the correct height, so I flipped the cable chart too. Instead of starting with the posts and finishing with the beams, I began with the beams so I could just make my posts shorter if needed. In the end, I had more than enough yarn. So I just kept knitting until I was about to run out, and then bound off my stitches with the last little bits. It worked out perfectly.

It felt so good to get back to the yarn and needles after so many weeks of strictly thread and needles. And now to cap it off with my knitting mantra - It will get cool enough to wear this soon. It will get cool enough to wear this soon. It will get cool enough to wear this soon...