OhSewCrafty Blog

• Pattern by Marie Adeline Boyer, available free via Ravelry
• Yarn: Jade Sapphire Cashmere Silk in “Plum Rose”, 342 yards
• Size/Needles/Gauge: 18″ tall as written, 6.0 spi on US 5’s
• Time to knit: 8 days in October 2011 (after 2 false starts…)

So, this cowl is a gift for my friend Sarah.  She bought the yarn, I knit it.  I tried and failed, tried again and failed again, but eventually prevailed!  The pattern is fine, simple with clear charts.  My difficulties were not the fault of the pattern.  The first time I managed to twist my cast-on row.  The second time I realized it was looking rather loose, so I decided to measure gauge and I was getting 5.0 rather than 6.0 spi.  I hadn’t swatched because gauge didn’t seem very critical for a cowl.  Well, it’s critical when the piece is coming out huge….  The third time was the charm.  I cast on in the car en route to Webs the day before Rhinebeck, and managed to finish in about a week with a lot of dedication.  The pattern is fairly intricate and my WIP attracted a lot of attention (from men, weirdly enough) as I knitted in public.  This is true lace, worked on every single round.  The repeat is 24 rows and I did not find it condusive to memorization.  You start with 168 stitches and decrease down to 132, but the cowl is 18″ tall.  Personally I feel that is a bit excessive for a cowl, and it is a lot of knitting.  I’m not crazy about cowls; I prefer something that fits snugger about the neck, but at least this is tall enough to cover most of one’s head.  I really hope Sarah likes it.  

The yarn is quite luxe, 55% silk and 45% cashmere.  It is sublimely soft, drapey and has a nice sheen from the silk.  The cashmere content lends it quite a bit of warmth even considering the lightweight- the cowl weighs only 47g.  The yarn is ideal for lace, I suppose, but it is rather delicate.  It’s very thin, you get 400 yds in 55g.  Once I managed to break it just by pulling from my center-pull ball.  Hopefully the cowl will hold up.  I have another skein of this in my stash, bought long ago.  I had planned a lace scarf for it and I do believe that will be an optimal use.  

To be honest, I found this somewhat of a tedious knit.  My two false starts due to my own stupidity did not help, either.  But it is a gift, it is lovely and soft and warm and I hope my friend likes it!