Ribbed Cowl

Hey everyone!

This week for the Harry Potter Knit and Crochet House Cup I decided to knit a long cowl from a single skein of Lion Brand Wool Ease Thick and Quick (a super bulky yarn). After much consultation with the DH (the cowl is for him), I got out my ruler, did some planning, and cast on. I think it came out well and thought I'd share since doesn't everyone have a single skein of super bulky yarn in need of a pattern?

This long cowl is started with a provisional cast on to keep the initial row of stitches live. The cowl is then worked back and forth along the width of the cowl (approximately 5"). Once the yarn is almost exhausted (for me this was at about 28" of length), the stitches from the provisional cast on are "made live" again and the two ends are Kitchener stitched together. For those of you who wish to skip the fancy provision cast on and Kitchener-ing, a regular cast on and cast off can be used and the two ends seamed together.

The cowl is heavily textured given the bulky yarn, provides good warmth, and should be appealing to males and females.

Ribbed Cowl

Materials:

one skein Lion Brand Wool Ease Thick and Quick (approx 106 yards) or a similar amount of another super bulky yarn
Size US 15 knitting needles (straights or circulars are fine)
tapestry needle to accommodate yarn size

Gauge:

approximately stitches per inch (but gauge does not need to be spot on)

Directions:

Use a provisional cast on (I like the one from Purl Bee at http://www.purlbee.com/2007/12/10/provisional-cast-on/ ) and cast on 15 stitches

Row 1: (K1, P1) repeat until one stitch remains, K1
Row 2: (P1, K1) repeat until one stitch remains, P1

Repeat rows 1 & 2 until yarn is almost exhausted (almost 28" for me), reserving enough yarn to use the Kitchener stitch to graft the two ends together.

Place the reserved 15 stitches from the provisional cast on back onto your needle (the stitches are "made live" again) and using the Kitchener stitch, graft the two ends of the cowl together, forming a long (approximately 28" ) narrow (approximately 5") loop. I use the instructions from Knitty.com to Kitchener, http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEsummer04/FEATtheresasum04.html.

The cowl can be worn long or doubled for greater warmth (as shown in the photo). It has the benefit of being two-sided (both sides can be public).

A quick and easy project, good for anyone (unisex) that provides nice warmth for a cold day!

Felted Mini Drawstring Bag

For June's HPKCHC Potion's class, I wanted to do a small felted bag (a place to keep a house key tucked away). I decided to improvise. My pattern is provided here in case anyone wants to do something similar.

Felted Mini Drawstring Bag

Materials:

approx 11 grams of Paton's worsted wool yarn (or another feltable worsted weight yarn)

US 9 needles (either double point or a long circular to allow you to knit in the round)

CREATING THE BOTTOM (this will be a hexagon shape when you are done)

Cast on 8 stitches

Row 0. knit one row

Row 1. KFB, K to 1 stitch before marker, KFB (10 stitches)

Row 2. Knit all stitches

Row 3. KFB, K to 1 stitch before marker, KFB (12 stitches)

Row 4. Knit all stitches

Row 5. KFB, K to 1 stitch before marker, KFB (14 stitches)

Row 6. Knit all stitches

Rows 7-12: Knit all stitches

Row 13. SSK, K to 2 stitches before marker, K2tog (12 stitches)

Row 14. Knit all stitches

Row 15. SSK, K to 2 stitches before marker, K2tog (10 stitches)

Row 16. Knit all stitches

Row 17. SSK, K to 2 stitches before marker, K2tog (8 stitches)

Row 18. Knit all stitches

CREATING THE BODY OF THE BAG

Pick up and knit stitches around the base of the bag until you have 36 stitches on either DPNs or on a long circular set up to knit with magic loop - place markers after every 9 stitches with a different style of fourth marker to mark the end of row

Rows 1-6: Knit all stitches

Row 7: (Knit 7 stitches, K2tog) 4 times (32 stitches)

Row 8: Knit all stitches

Row 9: (Knit 6 stitches, K2tog) 4 times (28 stitches)

Row 10-11: Knit all stitches

Row 12: (Knit 5 stitches, K2tog) 4 times (24 stitches)

Row 13-14: Knit all stitches

Row 15: (Knit 4 stitches, K2tog) 4 times (20 stitches)

Row 16: Knit all stitches

Row 17: (K2tog, YO) 10 times (20 stitches)

Row 18-20: Knit all stitches

Cast off all stitches.

My bag after knit (before felting) was approximately 3 3/4 " tall, 2" wide at base, and 2" wide at base

To ensure that the eyelets at the neck of the bag stayed open during felting, I wove a small plastic bag through the openings

I put the bag into a pillowcase (pinned shut) and washed it in hot water in the washing machine along with a load of towels.

After felting, you can use a ribbon or single crocheted "rope" as the drawstring for your bag.

Shetland Sampler Cowl

Back in May of last year (2013), I took a spinning class, Spinning the Colors of Shetland, taught by Nancy Barnett at the Middle Tennessee Fiber Festival in Dickson, TN. Nancy provided us with fiber in a number of different colors of Shetland.

As part of the Tour de Fleece later that year, I spun up all my Shetland and had a great sampler of yarns. I had eight different colors of Shetland, spun from rovings, short forward draw. The final yarn was a 2-ply, varying from DK to worsted weight.

With the goal of using this yarn for something other than just petting, I decided to knit up a cowl. I found a basic honeycomb pattern and improvised the pattern. I love having something as a final project which was started in the class. I share the pattern here for anyone else who might find him or herself in a similar circumstance with small quantities of several different colors of yarn (whether handspun or store bought).

Happy Knitting!

Shetland Sampler Cowl

Materials:

approximately 11 yards each of 7 colors (colors A - G) of a DK to worsted (9-10 wpi) weight yarn (approx 4 grams each for my 2-ply; my cowl includes colors A=white, B=grey, C=light grey, D=shaela, E=emsket, F=mioget, G=moorit) for a total of approximately 77 yards (28 grams) - these could be handspun or store-bought

approximately 90 yards of a main color (approx 32 grams for my cowl; my cowl includes black for the main color and I used KnitPicks Wool of the Andes Sport)

Needles: US 5 circular needles
US 7 circular needles for cast on and cast off (optional - used to help ensure edges aren't too tight)
or needles sized to obtain gauge

Gauge: 4 to 4.5 stitches per inch

Cast on 112 stitches using the main color with US 7 circular needles.
Join to knit in the round ensuring that your stitches are not twisted and use a marker for the beginning of the round.
Switch to the US 5 circular needles.

Row 1: Continuing with main color, Knit all stitches
Row 2: Purl all stitches
Row 3: Knit all stitches
Row 4: Purl all stitches
Row 5: Knit all stitches
Row 6: Purl all stitches
Row 7: Knit all stitches
Row 8: Knit all stitches

Row 9: With color A, (Slip2 as if to purl, Knit 6) repeat to end of row
Rows 10 - 14: Repeat Row 9
Row 15-16: With main color, Knit all stitches

Row 17: With color B, Knit 4, Slip 2 as if to purl, (K6, Slip 2) repeat until two stitches before end of row, Knit 2
Rows 18-22: Repeat Row 17
Rows 23-24: With main color, Knit all stitches

Rows 25-30: With color C, repeat Rows 9-14
Rows 31-32: With main color, Knit all stitches

Rows 33-38: With color D, repeat Rows 17-22
Rows 39-40: With main color, Knit all stitches

Rows 41-46: With color E, repeat Rows 9-14
Rows 47-48: With main color, Knit all stitches

Rows 49-54: With color F, repeat Rows 17-22
Rows 55-56: With main color, Knit all stitches

Rows 57-62: With color G, repeat Rows 9-14

Row 63: With main color, Knit all stitches
Row 64: Knit all stitches
Row 65: Purl all stitches
Row 66: Knit all stitches
Row 67: Purl all stitches
Row 68: Knit all stitches
Row 69: Purl all stitches
Row 70: Knit all stitches
Cast off using US 7 circular needles.