Lately I've been having these urges to knit a cowl. Yes, I know, I know, this is a very silly idea. It is spring. Soon enough it will be blazing hot. I will not want to wear a cowl. Do I even need a cowl when it is cold? I think I might. I just think I might. And I don't care if it's not the right time of year for this, if I feel like engaging in a bit of seasonally inappropriate knitting, I think I should sally forth and engage. Don't you? Ok, only answer if you agree.

I have been eyeing patterns in two books (neither of which happens to be published by F+W). One is in Veronik Avery's Knitting Classic Style. It's actually not even a cowl, it's this very light and puffy scarf/gaiter thing. The pattern calls for mohair. You can see it on Ravelry. The other cowl is from Knit 2 Together by Tracy Ullman and Mel Clark. This one is also on Ravelry (but honestly, what isn't??) So, all right, I've decided, for better or for worse, to undertake a cowl project.

The question becomes, what kind of yarn to use?? I have a lot of yarn in my stash, and I think something should work for both of these projects. But I need your help. For the Avery project, I need something very, very lofty. I do have some variegated hot pink mohair.

I have had this one a long time, I think it might be Rowan. This is probably the most accurate choice as far as weight and loft, but what about the color. The one pictured in the book is white--will all this pink be ok to frame a face (here it should be noted I am not afraid of color). The yarn in the back is from the Neighborhood Fiber Co. You can buy fabulous hand-dyed yarns from this company, owned by the fabulous Karida Collins, co-author of an upcoming North Light book (more on this at a later date...). At any rate, this is a silk yarn. I think it'll have the right loft, but not 100% sure.

Also from Neighborhood are these mohair beauties. But I'm not sure if I have enough!

Or, is this something I could make out of cashmere? I have a very fine cashmere that seems like it might be somewhat lofty (it's the green in the bowl).

And for the Knit 2 Together cowl, what to do? It calls for a heavier weight yarns on size 10 needles. And I have a tiny bit of this fine gray cashmere or a blue silk/mohair blend, and both of those would need much smaller needles. The pattern doesn't seem too hard to adjust, though.

Thoughts, anyone? How do people feel about knitting out of season? Substituting yarn? I'll let you know if I make any decisions in this matter. In the mean time, I hope to be finishing up the shrug.

* Jessica *

I'm on the hunt for a new everyday bag. Something that I can take to work, but that's also versatile and comfortable enough to carry for all day events (mostly shopping related) :)

I'm knee deep in my shrug project and starting some baby gifts, so I'm not counting on making one myself. Thank goodness for etsy! These were some of my favorites:

The first two are by Counting Stitches. I love the long strap on the oatmeal colored one!

I love the mustard color of this one by Pavlucha but the material may be too hot for spring:

And I'm very impressed with the spring pattern on this one by Into Knit:

Anyone have any other sprintime totes that they'd recommend?

Eileen

Here are some pics from our knitalong last Thursday. Unfortunately, I spent the bulk of the knitalong taking OUT rows as opposed to making them. Somehow I miscounted and one sleeve ended up a few inches longer than the other. Oh well, at least I caught the glaring error before I started ribbing.

The shrug on the left is Jessica's, the one of the right is mine. (And in the foreground you'll see a super cool striped bag that Wendy is working on.) This weekend I caught up on the sleeve ribbing and am now ready to seam my sleeves together, though I'm not quite sure how to do that. Good thing I'll be seeing my knitalong gurus in a couple of days!

Photo below L-R: Kristin, Kim & Eileen - we're all very focused on making progress.

Happy Crafting!

Eileen

I have finally finished my first crocheted project!  I have been wanting to try crochet for a while now and when a colleague of mine announced she was expecting a baby I thought it would be the perfect time to try it.  I wanted something simple so started with this blanket.  It was quite tricky at first but once you get going it is actually quite easy.  I wanted to jazz it up a little so I added some crocheted flowers to it. Let me know what you think?

I am looking forward to my first knitalong meeting with a group of colleagues on Thursday, and as I have finished my blanket I now have time to start a new project.  I will send photos of our first meeting next week.

Marie :)

I've got 2 sisters and one very close friend who are all pregnant and due in in the next 6 months. Help! I'd really like to knit something for each of them, but I don't want the projects to consume my life. I've seen some really cute cardigan patterns. Am I wrong to assume that since they'd be really small, they'd be that much easier to make? And check out these super cute buttons I found in Wan Wan Corners etsy shop:

Does anyone have a fun (and easy) baby project that I could integrate the buttons on?

Eileen