i resolve...

to rip out the lovely, really easy knitting i did last night at the wednesday night knit group, a brand new project i found yesterday -- here it is on the designer's blog, and to start this gaia shoulder hug, which i had decided a long time ago i wanted to knit. crazy talk? no -- it's time for resolutions, is it not? ;-)

what intrigues me about the gaia is that the colors emerging from the skein of noro dictate what you do with the pattern. an interesting notion, i think.

other resolutions? one more: to make some when i get inspired to do so. in the meantime, i'm knitting.

textures

and a gauge swatch masquerading as a first attempt at a moebius scarf:
i have a new needle, more appropriate length, more appropriate size for this silk yarn. i'll keep you posted...

i think i know my kitchener stitch

after 4 of these cowls (the 3 newest of which are displayed here), i now know for sure that you start the kitchener stitch with "as if to purl" on the bottom and "as if to knit" on the top, and then start chanting: "knit/slip purl, purl/slip knit"

these have been fun to do, but i'm not sure a production line is in my future...

wednesday night knit cowl

the ER scowl has spawned what my husband calls "yertle" (the turtle), but the gang at abuelita's (my local yarn store) is calling the wednesday night knit cowl. i saw some expensive cowls online before thanksgiving, thought well, i can do that! so cranked out a simple cowl based on the ER scowl.

here's how you do it:

150 yards bulky yarn (i used muench big baby multi)
size 19 (yes, you read that right!) knitting needles

using your favorite provisional cast-on, cast on 27, or an odd number of stitches.
row 1: knit 1, *yarn over, k2tog*. repeat * across.
row 2 and all remaining rows: sl 1 as if to knit, *yo, k2tog* . repeat * across.

when you have about 2 yards of yarn remaining (the cowl will be about 25" long), kitchener stitch the last row to your provisional cast-on. voila! instant cowl!

why is it the wednesday night knit cowl? i wore it to wednesday night sit and knit the night before thanksgiving, and one week later there are 3 or 4 of these chunky lacy cowls wandering around ;-).