FO: Byzantine Cowl

Today I can present you with the item that I feel has taken me to the next level of my knitting.  The Byzantine Cowl.

I received this as a club shipment from Dragonfly Fibers and knew I just had to cast it on.  One of my things I wanted to learn this year was colorwork.  I was a little nervous, but since I had the yarn all picked out for me and the pattern ready to go I decided to give it a try.  Like most things I try out I did not do any research or take a Craftsy class or read an article.  That would probably have been helpful, but I decided to go with the directions alone with a little help from the random tidbits I have heard people mention.  Knitting with two hands?  Evidently key for a continental knitter.  I'm not sure where I heard about it, but I'm glad I did.

The actual pattern is genius.  I was completely addicted to trying to finish just one more row of the chart.  Stephannie Tallent wrote up very clear, but very concise directions.  The entire pattern is three pages, with one introductory "front" page and one full page of charts.  I love that I did not get lost in a lot of written out directions.  I just got to knit.  In fact, I loved it so much that I have begun eyeing her book California Revival Knits.  There is a peacock cowl that must one day be mine.

As with every shipment, this installment of Club Dragonfly was great.  The yarn came pre-packaged with just enough for each color all tied together.  It is so soft and the double thickness of the two-sides makes it a squishy delight.  When I do knit that peacock cowl, I think I will be contacting them so that I can use the same base.

To check out more FOs, head on over to Tami's Amis!