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!

Plague Driven Charts

The plague (or something akin to the plague more commonly known as a cold) has been making the rounds at work and I appear to be its latest victim.  I spent Monday in a medicated haze and yesterday I came home from work and passed out before I even removed my shoes.  Because of this, one would think that I had not accomplished much.  But then, one has been known to be wrong.

Over the weekend I started knitting the Byzantine Cowl, which I got as a kit from Club Dragonfly.  Let me remind you.  I've never done stranded colorwork.  It has always been that "oh, one day when I'm a better knitter" kind of thing.  But for some reason when I got this kit I decided that I absolutely must cast it on (after the wedding of course, there was no way I could start this in the weeks it arrived).

I think I have found a new addiction.  I knit most of this in the past two days, but it seems to be working out despite the medication.  I have not spent time researching how to knit stranded, but finally my immersion in way too many knitting blogs and podcasts has paid off.  I remember reading or hearing someone talk about what it is like for a continental knitter to do stranded and which hand to hold the background color with (my right), and so I just took off.  And guess what?  I'm knitting with two hands!  Just don't ask me to do housework.  I'm far too sick to try that.

Hopefully I can finish the entire project before I lose my mind with these charts -- it is a reversible cowl after all.

For more WIPs and knitting fun, check out Tami's Amis.