Cornflower Cowl

Well, I was intending to show you this lovely grey cowl as I was knitting it but it was such an enjoyable knit, it didn't take long at all! So, I have progress pics and final posey shots for you:-)

Okay, where were we..... the last you heard about this project was me drooling over my lovely parcel of baby soft grey alpaca:-) I cast on pretty much straight away and have enjoyed every knitting minute of it. The yarn is such a pleasure to knit with and it knits up with such a nice drape and feel - gorgeous.

I was test knitting this lovely cowl design - 'Cornflower Cowl' . I love the way the cable patterning looks with the softer alpaca. You can still get good stitch definition but its softened slightly by the fibres in the alpaca. The pattern is quite easy to remember and I've spent my evenings listening to talking books, twisting cables and knitting away happily. It only took me four eveings to knit - and I'm about average speed, I think. So this is a great idea for a lovely quick christmas knit. I'm already planning some more!

And, just to show you how the cowl looks on, I got John to take some posing pictures for you:-)  Now, I've never worn one before - probably because I have a lot of scarves - but I loved it! I somehow thought cowls would be tight and restricting around my neck (I have a short neck which is a bummer for polo necks - no graceful swan-like neck for me:) But no! This was soft, cosy and immensely secure. I suddenly realised I wouldn't have to keep tucking in the ends of a scarf anymore - bonus! I didn't consciously realise that bugged me until now and now, the problem is solved, and very nicely too.

But this already has a future home as a christmas pressie so if I want to be ready for winter, I'll have to get some more yarn on the needles, my cornflower cowl pattern in hand and start a new talking book!

Test knitting

Today I received a very lovely parcel in the post - the yarn for my test knitting project, some gorgeous soft Rowan baby alpaca. I can't describe how lovely this is, just heavenly:-) Its so soft to the touch it makes you realise just how brash and hard all those other yarns have been:-))) And I thought cashmerino was nice. This is on another level entirely and after I stopped fondling it :-), I got around to knitting with it - sigh, perfection! Yum, yum, yum!

So what am I test knitting? It's a lovely cowl pattern by designer Karen Scott called Cornflower Cowl full of lovely cables and twisted stitches and I'm enjoying every minute of it. I think this alpaca is spoiling me!! How will I go back to my acrylic stash now!!! But not just providing me with this yummy yarn to test knit with, Karen also included some of her lovely stitch markers for me as a gift - aren't they lovely? Especially for socks which is perfect as the normal ones are a major pain being far too big and getting in the way all the time.

A close-up for you. I love the little heart on the left:-) Do you think Karen knows about my love of pink? It came in a bright pink mail bag, wrapped in bright pink tissue paper and the stitch markers were in this pink organza bag with a pink ribbon!! A lovely way to start the day. Thank you so much Karen!! There was another small gift too......

.....but it didn't last long enough for the photo shoot:-))