Friday, June 17, 2011

Thundercloud Cowl

Woohoo!  Hundredth post!!  Yeah!!

To celebrate my hundredth broadcast into the interwebz, I have a pretty little cowl to show you today.

The Thundercloud Cowl by Snowden Becker:

Cell phone pictures don't really do the yarn color justice.  You can see the beautiful undulating rows of eyelets, though.  Pretty, no?

The color looks more like this one from Knit Picks website "Fairy Tale":

 The yarn is a new line from Knit Picks, Aloft, a mohair/silk blend that is amazingly soft and light and has a lovely subtle sheen to it.  I don't knit in mohair very often, but when I do, I will absolutely come back to Aloft.  Soft, springy and honestly, really fun to work with.  A real delight for the fingers.

I loved the pattern, too.  Snowden Becker really did a great job with the smooth curving lace.  One major drawback is that the pattern wasn't that easy to memorize.  It meant that I didn't get bored with the pattern, since I didn't do as many repeats of it, but I had to keep the chart with me at all times.

My other issue was that the original version, available through Ms. Becker's website or Knit Picks, is a huge, loose cowl that one would have to wear around the shoulders or looped twice around the neck.  That was a little too much for me.  I only knit 4 of t he 8 pattern repeats and I think mine came out to just the right size--loose enough so it doesn't choke me, but close enough to my throat that it will keep me warm.

I think I would knit this again.  It would make a sweet Christmas gift for someone in a cool climate (i.e. not my in-laws).  The whole thing only took me a couple of weeks to knit from start to finish and I wasn't exactly being faithful to the project (I have been known to be a knitting slut...).  It certainly wasn't difficult for someone looking to try mohair or beginner plus lace for the first time.  Give it a try!

For next week, I'm cooking up a bit of a hippie post for you, so be prepared :)

Cheers,

-Allie

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