In the spirit of knitting out of my stash, I've been looking for projects that can be completed with relatively small amounts of yarn.  You see, I'm one of those knitters who seems to acquire a lot of trophy yarn.  Exotic yarn from other places, bright colored, novel fibers... things that it just doesn't make sense to get a lot of, but which I just can't leave behind when I find it.  Over the years I've gotten a little more judicious in my acquisitions, but I still have plenty of wonderful skeins that I'd like to be able to enjoy as a garment rather than just see in my yarn cupboard.

Cowls are wonderful projects when you have modest amounts of yarn.  I've been trolling Ravelry looking for patterns that appeal to me.  I also happily appropriate good ideas when I find them on friends' blogs.  In this case, I credit Julie with the inspiration, since her version looked cozy and it was clearly a fast knit.

The pattern is the Burberry Inspired Cowl Neck Scarf and the yarn is Colinette Prism in Jamboree.  I think this knit up in about a day.  What took me a while to get around to was the whole soaking and blocking part -- which it definitely needed given how stiff this wool-wrapped-with a cotton binder was after I knit it up.  It softened up considerably after a warm bath. 

Since we were spending a day at home watching the snow come down, I finally had some daylight time to get some pictures taken. 

This cowl is a contrast to the Super Cupcake in that it's a much closer fit. Good for keeping the neck warm.  In a pinch you might be able to use it in a hat-like fashion to keep your ears warm, but it's not as expansive as the Cupcake.  I likely won't be able to wear it without a turtleneck.  Even after a bath, the wool core of this yarn is not the softest stuff.  The color is great, though and it's definitely warm.  Perfect for when I need to wait for the bus in the cold.

Fun, easy pattern, good use of stash yarn, bright color in grey winter.  I call it a success!

Julie and I did something that we haven't done in what seems like forever: we searched out a yarn store and met for some shopping and chatting.  At one point in time, it seemed like our mission was to visit every possible store in the Chicago metro area.  There was always something new to see. After a while, though, that changed.  There's really only so much yarn being made, and it becomes harder and harder for any individual store to raise the novelty factor. I think it's been several years since we actively trolled a yarn store together, but last weekend we wanted to get together, and the best option looked like a yarn store. Julie found Knitch in Downer's Grove -- notable for the presence of an espresso machine.  It turned out to be a lovely store.  And while we didn't get coffee (which, if you know us, is the most surprising part of the day), I did bring home a new project and the new Rowan (which is fabulous!).

While I work on the blocking and buying of buttons for Nicole, I've gotten started on another little project: a summer lace scarf made out of this:

I found Noro Sekku at Knit Around in Ann Arbor on a recent visit to my parents' house.  I loved the colorway (quelle surprise, eh?), but really gave it a chance because of the fiber composition: 50% cotton, 17% wool, 17% nylon & 16% silk.  Lightweight and not too wooly, and a touch of nylon to make it durable.  I'm pretty sure it's colorway "04" but the ball band has gone missing at the moment (I was unable to remove the inner cardboard plug, so started knitting it from the outside in).

Because I wanted to emphasize the striping, I looked for a pattern that would make the fabric undulate a bit.  I've always loved "Tilting Blocks" out of Barbara Walker's A Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns , and this seemed like the perfect time to test it out.

This pattern can be worked with stockinette or garter stitch blocks separating the open blocks.  I set up three repeats of the pattern with a selvedge stockinette stitch on either edge, using 2.75 mm needles.  Then I chose to alternate garter and stockinette blocks, doing three rows of each and then switching back to add more texture.  I think the gauge is good for this project -- nice and soft and drapey, but the solid blocks are not too see-through.  With 460 yards in this skein, I'm hoping that I make it to at least 4' of scarf.   I thought about making it narrower, but liked the balance of the odd number of repeats best.

While this project isn't truly mindless, the pattern is much easier to memorize than you might think.  I'm enjoying it so much, I've been thinking about a summer sweater out of similar weight solid color yarn.  Hmmm....

In the last three weeks, my work life has changed rather significantly.  Different hours, different colleagues, different dress code.  For the time being, my crafty time is more constrained than it has been for quite some time, so I find myself really thinking hard about what I want to do with it.  

I do like to knit for wardrobe, but my current work lifestyle is not one that accomodates big slouchy sweaters or garments that are too "out there".  I find myself mostly in dress slacks, dress shirts and layering pieces like jackets and vests.  There's room for sweaters, but the types I think work best are those in very fine gauges and simple patterns with fitted shaping.  There seems to be two places that look to work best when it comes for knitwear:

1) Layering pieces like vests that help give dress shirts a bit more interest and help add a little bit more structure or make blouses that are a little bit sheer a bit more work appropriate.
2) Accent scarves that can be used to bring in a little color and provide a little hint of personal creativity without screaming "Yo! Look at me!  I like to knit"*

Thrown into this mix, I have to consider another factor, one that's been vexing me for almost a year now: I think I'm sensitive, and not in a good way, to wool.  I'm still experimenting with this, but it does seem that when I knit with wool, the eczema on my hands is more likely to flare up.  When I wear wool sweaters, my back seems to get worse.  When I wear wool socks, it seems like my legs and feet get more irriated and itchy.  I'm currently experimenting with eliminating wool from my wardrobe diet,  While it doesn't eliminate my problems, it certainly seems to reduce them.  So not only am I changing the types of garments that I am likely to knit, I'm also going to be changing up their fiber composition.  Fortunately, this is a good time to be looking at wool alternatives.  There are many fabulous cotton, silk, bamboo, linen yarns as well as many blends that really look delightful.

So I've been looking for patterns that meet my new wardrobe needs, are knit at finer gauge, and look good knit out of non-wooly yarn.  THe first place I decided to start looking was at ChicKnits, since I know Bonne Marie has been actively interested in developing patterns that "go to work".  With summer and lighter weight dress around the corner, I decided to start with Nicole -- a little vest that has a lot of visual and knitting interest, can layer well, and also can be knit in DK weight cotton.  


In the spirit of both work appropriate and compatible with a wide variety of under pinnings, I chose Rowan's Purelife Organic DK Cotton in a taupe-y shade (whose name escapes me at the moment).  The yarn is dyed with natural color dyes and  has subtle variations that add depth without being too pronounced about it.  I swatched it up on the suggetested size needles (Addi Turbo 3.75 mm "lace" style) -- I always take it as a good sign for a project when I get gauge on the first try.


I'm actually going up to a slightly larger size than I would normally knit for myself to accomodate both an "under layer" as well as a bra with more solid structure (which seems to have become one of the most necessary parts of my wardobe post-child)... and also because a number of Nicoles on Ravelry look a little too close fitting for a somewhat conservative work environment.  So far, as I knit on the project, the size has the right "feel" -- hopefully that will continue to be the way it is as I go on.

*Not that there is *anything* at all wrong as being identified as a knitter.... it's just that in a professional setting, I'd like to be remembered for my business acumen or personal enthusiasm for a particular project instead of just as "that woman wearing the wild scarf".  

This project knit up so quickly I didn't even have time to post a progress shot.

These are the fingerless version of the Farinelli gloves by Ysolda Teague, published in the Twist Collective.  I loved them when I saw them, but wasn't sure I'd get much use out of over the elbow opera gloves.  Ysolda then published the modifications for a shortened, fingerless version on her blog -- and that was all the remaining convincing that I needed to purchase the pattern. 

I have been wanting a pair of fingerless gauntlets for a long time.  Sitting in my home office in the winter can get quite chilly, and my mouse hand, in particular, starts to ice up.  I bought the Dream in Color "Smooshy" in the color you see above (I just can't remember the name, and the ball band is long gone) for the specific purpose of knitting myself some fingerless goodness, and, then, true to my usual pattern, took two years getting around to finding the right design and getting them knit up.  I wash about to design something myself when I found Ysolda's pattern and realized that it had all the elements that I wanted.
 

As with other patterns of Ysolda's that I've worked, I was impressed with the easy to follow instructions.  I love that the pattern is mirrored on each glove.  Besides the modifications she suggested for shortening them and making them fingerless, I made only a few small changes to suit my own needs.  I chose a 2.5 mm needle instead of a 2.75 mm needle (I have pretty narrow forearms and wrists and didn't want the gauntlets to be too loose) and added a couple extra rounds around the knuckles.  They were a little stiff pre-blocking, but after a soak, they softened up and have a very lovely drape without being too loose.  Smooshy seems to come with pretty generous yardage, because I used right around half a skein for this pair of gauntlets.