Thursday, January 08, 2009

A day late

I meant to write about this yesterday, but it's still winter break, so deadlines are hard to keep.

Yesterday was Russian Christmas, so in honor of my Russian mom, here's the cowl that she received for Christmas::



*Maybe I'll get some shots of her modeling it next week!

The pattern is the Shale Cowl by Leila Raabe. It's really well written and an easy knit! My mom used to own a big squishy cowl that could fit over her shoulders, but could also be pulled up around her head like a hood. It's that fit that I wanted to imitate for this gift. As is, the pattern produces a small item that just fits around your neck, so I made some simple modifications::

~I used some bulky yarn, rather than lace weight. I used Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Bulky, and Manos Del Uraguay ~ switching yarns for every other row or so.
~ Cast on 10 extra stitches for one more pattern repeat.
~ And used larger needles, size 11 rather than size 6.

If anyone's looking for a nice, comfy cowl that's also a quick knit, this is a great option.

*Merry Christmas*

2 comments:

mames said...

the cowl is beautiful with those mods, i think it may be even nicer than the original.

someday we will cross paths when you are in california. i look forward to it, we can sit and knit and feel like it is the seventieth, no the first time. happy new year, katie. hugs.

Anonymous said...

Merry Christmas and thank-you, Katie.
Love, Mom