I wanted to design a cowl for Doug that could be worn with a business suit. Doug does a lot of business travel; he needed a cowl which would be very lightweight but warm, which could be easily slipped into a briefcase or bag, and which would look both professional and classy. This cowl meets all of these requirements and has a subtle texture which looks great on both sides. Whether you travel business class or economy, you will look classy in this cowl!
Yarn: WOOLFOLK TYND, 100% wool, fingering weight, 2 skeins (cowl used approximately 420 yards). The cowl pictured used the shade 08 Darkest Bronze.
Needles: US 4 (3.5mm) or size to obtain gauge
Gauge: 24 x 40, in pattern, lightly blocked
Pattern stitch (knit in the round):
Rounds 1-3: *k2, p1* repeat to end
Round 4: purl all stitches
Cowl: Cast on 282 stitches and join in the round being careful not to twist stitches. Place marker at beginning of round. Begin pattern stitch. Repeat these four rounds of pattern until desired length, ending with a Round 3. Cast off in pattern.
Though any fingering weight wool would work, I highly recommend the WOOLFOLK TYND. It is incredibly soft, and is light and lofty. It is beautiful to work with and has wonderful drape.
Note: Although gauge is not crucial, the dimensions of the cowl will vary if your gauge differs from that stated.
Doug and I are on the Western Cape of South Africa, trying to recover our equilibrium after the disastrous US election results by avoiding politics in specific and news in general. We spent our first day in Cape Town, walking along Sea Point, and having dinner in trendy Camp’s Bay while enjoying the sunset. We then left for Tulbagh to get away from it all. (Virtually everyone we talked to in Cape Town said “Why would you go to Tulbagh? There is nothing to do there!” PRECISELY. We once again stayed at Rijk’s Country House, a little slice of heaven.
There, we did very strenuous things, like sit on the terrace and drink wine and appreciate the views:
Walk through the vineyards and appreciate the views:
Go for beautiful drives, and appreciate the views:
Baboons strolled by our car to say hello:
Flamboyant grasshoppers tried, and failed, to blend in with the scenery:
My knitting needles were put to use:
(Full disclosure here: some time was spent reviewing grants, preparing lectures, answering emails, grading papers – it is near impossible to truly get away from it all. But other than those ubiquitous tasks, we reveled in doing nothing.)
After three days in Tulbagh, we headed to the coast, to a little village called Paternoster. There we stayed at the wonderful Abalone House and Spa. I cannot say enough good things about this place. Here is a view from the deck at the Abalone:
Here is the whimsical plunge pool:
Here is where we sat drinking a glass of bubbly and appreciating the views (are you noticing a theme here?):
This is the view from the private terrace off of our room:
Need I mention the fabulous restaurant (Reuben’s at Abalone House, run by celebrity chef Reuben Riffel)? The luxurious spa? The lovely staff? It would be easy to check in and never leave the hotel, but then you would miss the little gem that is Paternoster. How could you not love a town that has a house like this one?
In Paternoster, we also did very stressful things, like stand on the rocks and appreciate the views:
Paternoster has a glorious beach. It goes on for miles, with beautiful white sands. It is also a windy beach. We couldn’t take photos on the beach itself because of the flying sand. On this day, it shot past brisk to exhilarating and then to mini gale-force sand storm, and it was still a fantastic experience. Here is me fooling around in the wind, just before it knocked me over:
We had booked into the Abalone for one night, intending to have a glimpse of Paternoster and then head back down to Cape Town. When it was time to leave, we found we couldn’t – we most happily stayed for an extra night.
We then headed down to Hout Bay, where we were meeting up with our friend Chris. We were all staying in the beach home of a dear friend. We weren’t sure what to expect, but it wasn’t this. Here we are on the balcony:
We have had an amazing time. Unfortunately, we must now get back to work, although we will still be here in South Africa. Doug has a very hectic schedule of meetings all week in Cape Town, and I have caught a quick flight to Johannesburg where I start teaching tomorrow. Soon enough it will be time to face up to the mess of the real world and contend with baboons of a different sort. In the meantime, hello from South Africa!
This week’s news has left me overwhelmingly sad and incandescently angry. I seem to have the seven stages of grief mixed up, or maybe they are all coming my way at once. I am too sad and angry to write a knitting post, something that normally makes me smile. I continue to knit. It turns out that sadness and anger make for very productive knitting. I have two finished projects to show you and quite a few new projects on the needles. I will tell you all about them when I get my words back.
Mothers and daughters: we won’t wait another 100 years
One of the nice things about having a holiday is that I have some time to catch up on my reading. In this edition of Surfing the Knit, an occasional series in which I bring you cool things I’ve read on the net, I give you four great posts from knitting bloggers (not all of them about knitting).
1 – October is the month is which many bloggers write about slow fashion, inspired by Karen Templer and her blog, Fringe Association. Of the many great October posts in this vein, one I really enjoyed is Leah’s post What makes a good knitting investment? #Slowfashionoctober on her blog, Fashion: Yarn Style. I like Leah’s posts because she is (1) a terrific knitter, (2) an enthusiastic fan of couture, both from an aesthetic and a technical perspective, and (3) a very thoughtful writer and blogger. Here she talks about the costs of hand knitting a wardrobe, and what constitutes a good investment.
2 – Last week Georgie (georgievinsun on Ravelry) put up some photos of an amazing patchwork blanket she made. It is composed of large squares, each one knit with a stitch pattern from a Kate Davies pattern. It is SUCH a clever idea, and looks amazing. Luckily, Georgie has just put up a post about it on her blog, which you can see here. I am in awe. Here is a photo (used with permission) but I urge you to go check out her post for more photos and the story behind her inspiration.
3 – I love the blog Julia Hedge’s Laces, written by Ravelry’s BlitheSpirit. This blog is sometimes about knitting, and sometimes about travel and other general musings. Last week she wrote a lovely post, Taking ‘The Canadian’ across the country (well half of it anyways…). In her words: “I recently went back to Toronto to celebrate my mum’s 80th birthday. As a treat, she really wanted to repeat a journey across Canada that she did almost twenty years ago, taking the train from Toronto to Vancouver; I was more than happy to accompany her.” It is a photo-heavy post which makes me want to fly to Toronto right now and hop on a train!
4 – I have mentioned Marzi’s blog before, as an example of a really great non-English language knitting blog. Marzi has recently gotten married, and she published an absolutely gorgeous post, The best day ever, with photos from the wedding. You do not have to read a word of Polish to appreciate this gorgeous wedding photo post; it is so stylish, sweet and joyous, it will put a smile on your face! Congratulations, Marzi!
I am writing this in the Airport Lounge at Phoenix Sky Harbor while waiting for a flight to take me home. I have spent the past week in Tucson, visiting my mother and stepfather, Marylou and Stuart. Both my step-sister, Alison, and my daughter, Leah, flew in for the weekend as well. We had a fabulous time. Leah had just survived the rainiest October on record in Vancouver and this intense burst of sunshine has refilled her batteries. As she said: “I seem to be solar-powered.” I can agree with that!
Before heading out to Arizona, I was struggling to finish knitting the pieces of Emma’s Tinder cardigan. My secret plan was to block the pieces before I left, and to bring them to Tucson and do all of the finishing while on holiday. Leah would then be able to take the finished garment back to Vancouver for her sister. I knew that I would have to block them by Sunday evening in order to take them with me on the plane, but I had to finish knitting the right front first! I finished at about midnight on the Sunday after a marathon session. Doug took a photo of me collapsed on the floor after I finished blocking (not the best photo given the poor lighting, but a good representation of how I was feeling at the time).
Despite this mad rush, the truth must be told: I had vastly underestimated the amount of time the finishing would take and also underestimated how difficult it would be to piece together a worsted wool sweater in the record-breaking Tucson heat. The sweater is now back in my suitcase, returning with me to England.
I can, however, confirm that Tinder is a lovely cardigan with some very clever details. The raglan seams and the collar came out great:
Here I have borrowed my mom to show off how the shoulders are shaped:
Isn’t it gorgeous!
Despite the disappointing amount of knitting I managed to do on this holiday, I had a fabulous time. I always enjoy being in the desert and it was fun to have so many of us together. Here are some photos from the Desert Museum. If you are ever in Tucson, it is a must-see!
Marylou and Leah:
Javelinas:
Unbelievable vista with Saguaro cacti:
Leah, me, and Alison:
Alison and Stuart:
Random cactus photo:
Now, I am going to sit back, enjoy my wine, pull out my knitting and zone out until flight time!
