Lantern Festival Cowl

I am a sucker for pictures of dinners, picnics, events held at dusk under pretty glowing lanterns. After seeing a particularly pretty picture of a bunch of Chinese Lanterns hung up for a festival I thought I would try to capture the idea in knit form. Here is my latest design, the..

Lantern Festival Cowl

This pattern is written for two sizes. The small is made using a fingering weight yarn on US Size 2 needles and the large is made using a worsted weight yarn on US Size 5 needles. The small hugs the face and neck while the large creates a large plush wall around the head. The bottom of the cowl has four gussets so it flares out, sitting nice and flat over the shoulders.

The pattern is sold through Ravelry (you don't have to belong to Ravelry to purchase) for $5.00.

Details about gauge and yardage requirements are included in the pattern.

In case you were wondering, the pictures were taken in the costume shop where I work. I have had little time to scout good picture taking locations, plus it's allergy season and I have no desire to spend time outside right now. So what you see in the first picture are bins and bins of ribbon, trim, beads, zippers, ect. The second picture, the one that looks like it as taken in front of a wall at Mood is taken in our fabric storage. I tell you this because knowing the treasures behind the boring background might make it a little more exciting. :) The last two pics are in front of some artwork in progress and I will have to leave it as vague as that unfortunately.

Pop Blossoms Cowl

Before Christmas I altered my Pop Blossoms Hat pattern to become a cowl for my dear sweet cousin.

I quickly slammed it out without any regard to yardage or measurements, so while it was successful and cute, I had no idea how much yarn I used or what the gauge was. When I got back to NY from my Christmas break (and yes I realize how ridiculous is is to be mentioning when I got back from Christmas while blogging in April) I worked up two more Pop Blossoms Cowls so I could get all those pertinent numbers. So here it is...

Pop Blossoms Cowl

This cowl is big and chunky. It doesn't hug your neck and face as much as it creates a plush wall around your head. It is knit using heavy worsted, Aran, or Bulky weight yarns on size US 9 circular needles.

The example with the gold background and maroon pattern was knit using Cascade Eco+ in Butternut Squash and 2 strands of Vanna's Glamour in Garnet.

The example with the green background and pink pattern was knit using Vanna Choice Solid in what I think was the color Fern and 2 strands of Vanna's Glamour in Rhinestone, the best sparkly hot pink yarn ever. The pink was next to impossible to capture correctly with my camera so if the wall behind the cowl looks oddly blue, that is my attempt to make the cowl colors look like they do in person. Failed attempt I should say because it still does not look as gloriously pink as it does in person.

The pattern is available by itself or in discount bundles (ebooks) with the Pop Blossoms Hat and/or Pop Blossoms Mittens through my Ravelry Store.

Up next, a change to the blog appearance and the Lantern Festival Cowl

Up soon because I am dragging my feet something fierce, the reworked Cylon Hat.

Hey Girl...

Handmade Ryan Gosling has always been the best of the "Hey Girl..." sites and this submission really takes the cake.

Thank You Ryan Gosling, I just hope other people like my Lantern Festival Cowl (coming soon!) as much as you do.

Working in a Costume Shop Means...

...wrapping yourself in 4 very full boas because they are there, and so are you.

...every so often seeing a show during previews, and sometimes that show is NEWSIES!!!*

Newsies opened this week and if you are coming to NY anytime soon, it is well worth seeing. If you liked the movie growing up, you will love, LOVE the stage version. They change some things, but those changes work well. The girl role is expanded, given a little more power which is always a good thing. The guys dance their asses off and their energy is crazy high. I sat there grinning like a fool the entire night.

Best $20 Art Project Ever, or at least the Sparkliest

I was bored the other night and took a short visit to my favorite costume jewelry store. This place is amazing. Almost everything is under $4 and absolutely encrusted in cheap rhinestones. It is one of the best craft supply stores in town. After this visit I got home, looked at these ridiculous earrings and brooch and inspiration struck. I had this awesome $3 frame from Pearl River Mart and had nothing to put in it, until tonight. I raided my glitter paper stash and for less than $20 total I have the most awesomely tacky wall art.

If you are visiting NY and want to check out the costume jewelry store, there are actually two owned by the same people, check out Earrings Plaza or Jewelry Plaza. They don't have websites but they are on google maps. Don't be scared away by the ugly presentation, because the product is fun.

Acorn Harvest

I published a pattern way before Christmas and failed to ever blog about it.

Acorn Harvest Hat and Cowl is a autumn inspired pattern. The chart was worked out in the actual fall but I was uninspired by my yarn, ridiculous as that may seem with my super size stash. Then in early summer I was wandering around Purl Soho and came across the Maple Leaf Madeline Tosh Worsted Merino, possibly the most amazing green yarn ever. The color variations are unusual and the yarn is just fun to look at. It ended up being perfect for the Acorn Harvest pattern. Because it was summer by this point, I brought the project with me to the beach where I was the freak playing with wool in the hot summer sun, every so often tossing the hat to my Blue Bottle Coffee barista friend to model for me.

Finally, a year after coming up with the chart I was able to get some pictures.

Here it is, the Acorn Harvest Hat and Cowl

The cowl is fully lined and very plush. It is a tube, stitched in the round from the bottom up. It requires a heavy worsted weight yarn in 175 yards of a background color (brown), 100 yards of pattern color (green) and 100 yards of lining color (purple).

The green line of stitches you see on the inside secures the lining in place. Any kind of decorative stitch can be used, I used a cross stitch.

The hat is an unlined snug beanie worked in the round from the bottom up. It requires heavy worsted weight yarn in 100 yards of background color (green) and 70 yards of pattern color (brown).

The patterns are sold as one pattern for $5.00 through Ravelry. You do not have to be a Raveler to purchase.

Thank You Leila for modeling for pictures!

Knitting For The Cousins

I've started a tradition that every Christmas a few family members will get something hand knit. I'm lucky that I come from a family that understands the value of handmade objects and appreciates the time and effort that went into them. Usually the family member is my dad, sister or brother (my mom is a knitter so she gets yarn) but this year it my cousins' turn. Last year one of them wanted a hat but by the time I found out, I was swamped in Christmas knitting and it could not be done, so this year I made their gifts a priority. I have a lot of cousins but these three grew up nearby and we have celebrated many holidays together. The eldest is the receiver of the book boxes, the boxes full of whatever books I finished recently keeping my bookshelves manageable.

With help from the eldest cousin who I drafted as an elf, because all older siblings are elves at Christmas, I came up with these projects.

The first I am calling the Hat for the Boy Cousin. I would embarrass him if I described him in the same silly flowery language I use for the girls but I don't want to share his name so I am simply calling him Boy Cousin M. This hat I actually made ages ago, with him in mind, but it was waiting until I made things for the other two. It is made out of some buttery Karabella Aurora 8, that stuff is sooo nice to knit with.

The second hat is for Sweet Cousin M. She wanted a slouchy blue and silver or white hat. I ended up using a single ply bulky Cascade yarn (I have no idea what it is called) with my Starflower Flake pattern. Then I encrusted the starflower flakes (the white part) with size 6 Swarovski heat set transmission rhinestones. In normal human terms, those are teeny tiny, I think the smallest, crystal rhinestones you can get that have the heat set glue on the back. Transmission means they are clear, no foil on the back, with an iridescent finish. The size is so small you do not really see the rhinestones themselves from a few feet away, but you certainly see sparkle. I would say this has close to 500 rhinestones on it.

Extreme Close-up shot!

It might be one of my favorite projects. In person it just sparkles like freshly fallen snow. It would have been really difficult to gift had it fit my enormous head, luckily it was made for her much smaller head.

Finally, this is the cowl I made for my Dearest Cousin D. I decided she needed a cowl instead of a hat. I worked up a cowl variation of the Pop Blossoms Hat. I failed to get any sort of gauge or measurements from the finished product so this pattern is waiting while I knit another sample. The red was supposed to be more maroon but that was the closest I could get so it looks a bit Gryffindor. The red/maroon is Cascade Eco+ and the gold is three strands of Vanna's Glamour yarn from Lion Brand. This stuff is great for sparkly colorwork.

I was compelled to stop stalling and write this post because this week two of them were in a bad car accident. They are both fine, a little sore since seat belts save lives and leave bruises and welts doing so. I am so thankful they are ok. I talked to one of them yesterday and it was all I could do not to cry into the phone out of relief. It has not been a good winter for several of my friends so I am all too aware how lucky we are. Anyway, I was thinking about them so much I thought I would blog about them.