Ready for a new pattern?
You won’t have to wait much longer! I finished my cowl this week. It’s currently blocking, but as we are getting some (much needed) rain, the humidity has gone up so this may take a bit. Here it is unblocked, laid out on my ironing board.
I love how the bright colors look with the creamy white yarn, and the Schoppel-Wolle Gradient yarn is super soft. The yellow section was getting really wide though, so I did break off the yellow when I felt I’d had enough, wound off the yellow until it was just starting to shift again, and broke it off here. I then spliced my yellow end from the work to the shifting end of the ball (really easy with lightly spun singles) and went on my way. When the green ran out, I just spliced my reserved yellow onto the end, et voilà, yellow border! I really love that it’s not quite symmetrical, with one cool border and one warmer border. I think it gives it a little more pop.
The other thing I thought I’d share with you is how I handle color changes with these large blocks of color. I can’t carry the yarn up that far – it’s going to show. But I like to protect against the possibility of ripping back later, and minimize the loose ends hanging around. So I don’t cut the yarn:
With only two balls of yarn, it’s not that much fuss to leave the color not in use attached. Then I just start up with it again with a loop of yarn left behind. Once I’ve finished knitting (or crocheting) and I’m satisfied I won’t be ripping back, I cut each loop in the middle and weave in my ends. This method helped me out when I ripped back the entire middle color section, plus a row of white, as I didn’t have to try to reknit the white right up to a short little end.
If you like what you see, give me a few more days to take photos of my (hopefully eventually dry) blocked cowl, and metaphorical weave in the final loose ends on the pattern. Then I’ll be able to post it to the site. I used only one skein each of Schoppel-Wolle Gradient in “Streiflichter” and The Fibre Co Loft in “Logical”, and I’m really happy with how the yarns worked out.
Today’s Charity Pick
June is Pride Month. If you’d like to do something a bit more substantial than wear rainbows, can I suggest donating to Casa Ruby?
“Casa Ruby is the only LGBTQ bilingual and multicultural organization in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area that provides social services and programs catering to the most vulnerable in the city and surrounding areas. The idea behind the formation of a transgender women of color run and led organization came almost 30 years ago when Ruby Corado arrived in Washington, D.C., and there were no services to support her needs as a young transgender Latina immigrant. Her drive and dream was to bring resources to historically underserved and under resourced communities in order to create more success stories for transgender and queer folks.”
They are under particular pressure due to Covid-19 since they cannot close their doors, but must work to ensure everbody is as safe as possible while continuing to provider services on site. People don’t stop being homeless and in need of shelter during a pandemic.