Another cheat, because I'm also going to cover my first FO of the year. And no, it's not mittens, though those have finally winged their way to their new home.
The improvised hat of the Five Hour Hat Challenge, is actually a super luxurious alpaca cowl. I'll admit to twice using it as a hat (you know, since I didn't finish the challenge or bring another one with me).
A free gift from Lily Kate, Altounyan is a simple stockinette cowl with a few tucks to add some texture and visual interest. I think it looks better as a cowl than a hat, no?
The yarn was wonderful. My Mom gave me the yarn for Christmas and it is amazing - soft and light - knitting with kittens, as my friend said. I love the deep, almost chocolate color. The picture above is probably the truest to color.
I would have been done sooner, but I managed to split two stitches and didn't realize it for about 11 rows. I struggled a bit on the first row of picking up stitches from rows beneath - I kept losing sight of what row and stitch I was working with. So, I took some advice from littlecloud and used a DPN to pick up the stitches. I'm not sure how she did it, but I counted down 11 rows, stuck the DPN through (front to back) and it was perfectly placed to grab the purl bump. For the other stitches in a gather, I just worked on the back of the work and was able to see where the yarn pulled and it was easy to grab the adjacent purl bumps.
Once again I didn't swatch and it bit me in the hindquarters, though only very gently. I could have made a taller cowl that was more fitted to the neck. But that's okay, as it's plenty tall enough for me. I only had 18 inches of yarn left when I was done!
Partner was helping with the photo shoot. I wanted to capture that it was too large around neck. He wanted me to channel my inner Tyra.
I'm very happy with this knit. I love the feel of the yarn and how the sheen and depth of color in the alpaca is allowed to shine in this pattern. It's oh so light and soft. I love that I was able to use up all the yarn and it has a nice fit. I tried a shawl pin later to close up the top and that worked quite well. The first FO post of the year!
Pattern: Altounyan (and ravelry)
Yarn: 100% alpaca yarn that my mom picked up from an Oregon non -profit Headles & Treadles, artist is B. Simpson, 100 grams, ~220 yards
Modifications: none!
Knitting yardage total 2012: 220
love that cowl! it looks super versatile and comfy! a win-win in my book!!
Posted by: melissa | February 20, 2012 at 08:15 AM
ps - you are completely adorable, especially in that last photo!
Posted by: melissa | February 20, 2012 at 08:16 AM