Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Knitting up Rhinebeck 2009: Kid Hollow Cowl

Kid Hollow Boucle Yarn

Some yummy luscious yarns are impossible to resist, then impossible to figure out.

I'm not a big boucle fan. I have one sweater I made from a fine-gauge black wool boucle and I absolutely love it. But most such yarns are much bigger gauge, and when hand-painted the become very idiosyncratic indeed. (My god, how I hate Lion Brand Boucle...I managed to knit a couple of charity projects with it once, and they came out alright despite the yarn catching and snagging with nearly every stitch. But the one time I tried to crochet with it ended in rage and frustration after just two rows. I could not find the "tops" of the stitches in the row below to save my life. Never Again.)

In this case, my yarn magpie soul first saw the pretty colors, and on petting the yarn I really wanted it badly. I often react badly to mohair -- I find it scratchy no matter how infantile the goat it came from. This yarn wasn't the slightest bit scratchy: it was silky, soft, and impossible to resist. So into my purchase bag it went.  Though I think I wore it round my neck a little while as a mock-scarf.

In the cold light of day...What to do with one skein of novelty handpaint mohair + silk + wool boucle? One skein with too much yardage for a hat, too loopy for gloves. That leaves...making a cowl/scarf.

Cast on circular needle...knit. The twist was an accident, but worked pretty well to make this a natural Moebius piece!