For Christmas, I gave Emma a get-back-to-knitting kit. Emma is a fantastic knitter, but suffers from lack of follow-through; her attention gets distracted by all of the other things she does well. I had hoped that she might be tempted by having yarn and needles at hand. My ploy seems to have worked:
I purposely picked a project that could be finished quickly; Emma knitted it in a few days. It is called the Cecilia Cowl. The gift consisted of a photocopy of the pattern (it is a free pattern designed by Rachel Atkinson for Loop, which you can find here), a skein of Freia Super Bulky Ombre in the colour Nautilus, and a US size 17 circular knitting needle. I had thought that I would be around to give a hand if needed, but Emma knit the whole thing on her own, mostly during the wee hours (she arrived Christmas Eve so was very jet-lagged).
This is a great project for beginners – the pattern is easy but is also engaging enough to keep your interest. Best of all, the constantly changing hues of the yarn make it hard to put the project down: it is a “just one more row” kind of project.
Emma is flying back to Canada tomorrow, but I am hoping that her interest has been snagged enough for her to take advantage of all of the great knitting shops in Vancouver. I am a great enabler, am I not?
I hope that you have all had a lovely holiday, and enjoyed some relaxing knitting time.
You are, you are ! If Emma is equally pleased with her efforts – and I don’t see how not – you’ve done A Really Good Thing. Gratifying. 🙂
It was a fun gift to pick out and give, which makes it a win-win.
Thanks for highlighting this pattern. I am about to help some younger friends who want to start knitting – this looks like the perfect ‘not a boring rectangular scarf’ project that might get them hooked (or needled, I suppose…!) 🙂
You are welcome, Liz. I spent forever trying to find just the right pattern and yarn combo. It clearly captured her interest. The only potential downside is that the yarn is fairly pricey (but lovely and eye-catching).
It can be the case that variegated yarn looks nicer in its skein/ball than it does when made up. You have hit on the perfect combo here!
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Hi Kelly, I had printed off this pattern when you first posted the blog. I keep reading it over and over and look forward to knitting it especially since I have been knitting a lot of mindless scarves lately. I was looking for something that I would need to pay attention to and concentrate a bit. About a month ago I was wandering the aisles of a yarn shop and found a great yarn for the pattern. Finally, earlier this week I decided to cast on and get knitting. Well, wouldn’t you know it? I don’t have the right size needles. Go to Joann’s craft store yesterday and they don’t have the size either. Looks like I may need to take a run up to WEBS my next day off.