Cowl season is near

Leftovers knitting continued. I had these three half-skeins of different blues and I couldn't decide what to turn them into. And after fine wool on fine needles I needed a different project, something chunky, quickly growing, one day tops. So this happened:

I love the result. The three blues turned into turquoisy melange, and the cowl practically made itself. Tripple thread is rather chunky, so it requires large needles. All it took was one evening.

Then there were two: stripy black and white with shimmering metallic thread, and grey melange. Not as chunky as the first one, but also a lot of fun. It turned a bit ombre:)

Ans it sparkles!

Cowls, cowls, fresh cowls!

Hello dear readers,

Dzień dobry drodzy Czytelnicy!

First of all thank you for reading my blog and leaving comments - I appreciate them all!

Przede wszystkim dziękuję za to, że tu zaglądacie, i że zostawiacie komentarze - jest mi bardzo miło je czytać!

Now let me show you what I just listed in KnitsDeLuxe store:)

A teraz pozwólcie, że pokażę Wam nowości, które ostatnio pojawiły się w sklepie KnitsDeLuxe:)

I'm in a wintery mood, though it's still summer (and they say this week will be extra hot). But I'm having fun with cowls and infinity scarves. I'm testing new yarns, inventing new patterns, trying to figure out the best way to wear them. The last thing usually boils down to: wrapped around the neck or hooding the head:) I love the idea of these neckwarmers: no loose ends that can be a nuisance sometimes, hood and a scarf in one, and with a little bit of imagination and an extra pin they can be turned into a vest protecting the shoulders and lower back. And they are so in! The keywords for this winter seem to be: infinity scarf, neckwarmer, cowl, circle scarf - I'm guessing they do differ a little, but the general idea is the same.

Jestem w zimowym nastroju, chociaż za oknem pełnia lata (co więcej, ponoć w przyszłym tygodniu mają wrócić upały). Ale ja bawię się kominami i otulaczami. Testuję nowe włóczki, wymyślam nowe wzory, próbuję znaleźć najlepszy sposób noszenia. To noszenie najczęściej sprowadza się do dwóch wersji: zawinąć wokół szyi, naciągnąć na głowę:) Otulacze są genialne - tak ogólnie, jako pomysł na dodatek. Nie ma luźnych końców, z którymi czasami nie wiadomo co zrobić, jedna rzecz może być jednocześnie szalikiem i czapką, a przy odrobinie fantazji i dodatkowej zapince, łatwo można je przerobić na kamizelkę, która zasłoni ramiona i ogrzeje nerki. A do tego otulacze są supermodne!

All the cowls below are knitted either in the round or flat and stitched up with the kitchener stitch - anyway, there are no inside seams, which makes them very easy to wear. Some of them are reversible (the same on both sides), others have the right and left side, but the left one can also be worn as the right one (it's up to the wearer to decide).

Wszystkie otulacze z poniższych obrazków zostały wydziergane w kółko albo na płasko i zszyte kitchenerem - w każdym razie żaden nie ma szwów, dzięki czemu nie ma problemu z tym, jak je zamotać. Niektóre są dwustronne, czy raczej identyczne po obu stronach, inne są różne, ale wtedy lewa i tak wygląda na tyle fajnie, że można ją nosić jako prawą.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/106112429/infinity-scarf-chunky-pink-and-brown-mix

https://www.etsy.com/listing/106338255/handknit-chunky-ivory-cowl

https://www.etsy.com/listing/106861725/handknit-red-cowl

https://www.etsy.com/listing/106338424/alpaca-infinity-scarf-in-light-ocean

https://www.etsy.com/listing/106339541/infinity-scarf-chunky-green-and-teal-mix

https://www.etsy.com/listing/105696770/infinity-scarf-chunky-beige

https://www.etsy.com/listing/107093189/infinity-scarf-chunky-green-and-teal-mix

Winter knits in the middle of summer

It's 30 degrees outside, hot and humid, my least favorite weather. So what do I do? I take the chunkiest yarn out of my stash and knit a cowl. Oh yes!:)

Za oknem 30 stopni, duszno i gorąco, nie cierpię takiej pogody. Więc co robię? Wyciągam z pudła najgrubszą włóczkę jaką mam i robię komin. Właśnie tak!:)

https://www.etsy.com/listing/105342402/knit-alpaca-wool-cowl-chunky-natural

 Yarn: 65% wool & 35% alpaca. Very warm. Great color - pale gray with beige undertones. It will go with everything.

Włóczka: 65% wełny, 35% alpaki. Bardzo ciepła. Fajny kolor - jasnoszary złamany beżem. Pasuje do wszystkiego.

I survived Christmas (and New Year, and the first week of 2012:))

Well, it wasn't that difficult, really:) But it was very busy, so today is really the first day when I'm starting to catch a break. First there were some gifts to knit:

This time I kept it to a minimum:)

Then I came up with a new cowl for the shop - close fitting hoody type of neckwarmer.

Blend of mohair and acrylic, available here: long cowl from KnitsDeLuxe at Etsy.

Then there was an order for one of my favorite models:

White Angel from Debbie Bliss - blend of super kid mohair and silk, great yarn to work with. I love this shawl, it's soft, delicate, big (usualy about 180-190 x 60 cm), and ultralight (less than 100 grams).
[Advertising mode on] available on demand via Etsy [advertising mode off] :)

And in the meantime, I knitted a quick "I-want-one":)

Now I'm working on a new Queen of the Forest shawl (pattern available here: Queen of the Forest at Ravelry or here Queen of the Forest at Etsy. This one will be big leaves in deep teal - great color, unfortunately one of those I can't seem to get right on camera. Anyway, here's a sneak peek:

Well, that's it for now. Time to go back to work:)

Cowl-mania continues

It seems like all I've been knitting recently are scarf substitutes:) Whatever you call them - cowls, neckwarmers or hoods - here they are:

 

 

And since I'm a bit tired of this monotony, I've started knitting a new shawl. My favorite alpaca with virgin wool and acrylic will soon become another light and lacy something:) Here's the teaser:

Olive-green cowl

I've been knitting cowls like a maniac recently:) This one was made to order, so it's a bit wider than usual. Knitted from a blend of mohair with acrylic, ribbed (so it stretches).

Perfect for hat-haters - you just wear it around your neck, and when your head freezes, you pull it over like a hood.

All my cowls are seamless - there is no thick stitch on the side. And I knit them around the neck, not from the bottom up:) So how come they're seamless? Well, being the lazy gal I am, I just knit a rectangle from a provisional cast-on, and then, when the whole thing is long enough, I grab a needle and join both ends using the Kitchener stitch. Just like that:

It's actually easier than it looks, but I need to be extra careful to lead the needle the right way. Otherwise, it won't look as seamless as it should:)

I have two more cowls to show, but for now, this one will have to do. And soon I'll be able to show a new lace scarf (I'm finishing it off right now). Plus, there is one more thing from this olive-green mohair: an infinity scarf. I'd love to say I'm finishing that one too, but since it's infinity, it might actually take a while:)

Work(s) in progress

The most important project I'm working on now is this:

Doesn't look like much yet, but when it's blocked, it will be great. And it doesn't represent the real color too well - the photo was taken in bad light. It's the gray yarn from my last post - a light and natural shade of gray.

But before I started that, I just had to try other yarns I got on Monday:) This is wool with acrylic that in about one skein will become a man scarf. Great yarn, very easy to work with. And a quick knit:)

And this one is going to be a high cowl, working as a hoodie on demand. Someone will be able to pull it over their head when it's cold:)

And now, back to knitting:)

Straight from the needles and the blocking board

OK, so I don't have a blocking "board", I just use my mattress. Which is about 2 meters long, so blocking things that are longer (and there will be more such things now, as the season for scarves is coming) tends to be rather difficult. But I managed somehow.

And the result is:

100% merino lace shawl in gorgeous cobalt blue color. This is the thinnest and softest yarn I've ever worked with. The shawl is incredibly light, and it can be worn with everything.

The color looks stunning with black jacket.

Well, this is not exactly a black jacket, but you can see how the dark background brings out the blue:)
 I used needles no 3.25 (KnitPro - love them), and two skeins of Merinos fine from ISPE.


The one straight from the needles is a quick and simple cowl:

Last week the weather in Lodz was terrible - cold, wet and unpleasant (and it's just early September!). So I dug into my yarn stash and found a lonely skein of wool/mohair/acrylic blend in a lovely washed-out green color. One skein is not enough for a decent scarf, but it's plenty for a decent neck warmer.

I wanted to make it light and a bit puffy, so I went for this special stitch (the name of which I do not know:) But I remember it's the first "fancy" stitch I learned when I was a kid. I haven't used in a while, but since it looks so great, I'm already using it for another cowl:)

Both the shawl and the cowl are available at my Etsy store here: http://amadeitknits.etsy.com/