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Through the Trees – Cast On

Back in November I preordered the Winter 2020 PomPom Quarterly magazine because the previews for several patterns looked really interested. I received it a few weeks ago.

I think I also mentioned I did a little stash toss and reorganization a few weekends ago. In the process, I came across the snuggly soft Angora/Wool St. Magnus DK I picked up at Stephen & Penelope back in 2018 (sheesh, that feels like a LONG time ago now). I’d purchased it with the idea of making a cowl for TheEnabler because he occasionally grumbles about how I have things from bunny and he doesn’t.

After my little block party last weekend, I was in need of a new project. So I pulled out the St. Magnus DK and started considering patterns. In the meantime, I’d been thumbing through the PomPom magazine, and suddenly realized it would be lovely as the backdrop to the “Through the Trees” cowl, which has a layer of lace set against a second plain knit layer, tied together with a rib using both colors. I just needed a second color to go with it.

I pulled out a few options, and decided that the Hedgehog Fibres “Unicorn Party” skein TheEnabler picked out from the Knit Stars 5.0 special editions yarns goes quite well. Both have very similar yardage per 100gr, but the St. Magnus is a squishy plump DK with loads of air, while the Hedgehog is a compact thin fingering. So definitely swatching was EXTRA in order for this one.

I spent Friday and Saturday doing swatches, and went down from a 3.5mm to a 3mm needle before I was happy. The DK squishes down nicely, but the Hedgehog definitely needs a smaller needle to get a decent fabric. I’ve just about obtained the stitch gauge (closer to 24 than 23st per 4in) and my row gauge is off a bit, but I figure that’s more forgiving. And it IS a cowl, not a carefully fit garment. What’s most important is that I’m happy with how the fabrics lay one on the other.

Yarn cakes and swatches to make “Through the Trees”: Hedgehog Fibres “Unicorn Party”, a fingering in teals, greys and splashes of muted versions of the rest of the rainbow and St. Magnus DK in blue-grey “Slate”, a wool/angora blend

So last night I cast on, and today I started on the rib. I like how it’s turning out so far, and it’s incredibly soft!

Beginning rib of the cowl pattern “Through the Trees” set against PomPom Quarterly, Winter 2020, from which the pattern comes.

I think this is going to be a fun, but not overly challenging knit. Overall, a clever and elegant design, but each section should be pretty rhythmic to work on. Good for chilling over the holidays and it will leave me room to start one of my tops or sweaters alongside it since these always require a lot more calculations as I go.

Gift Ideas

Need a gift for somebody who doesn’t knit, crochet, spin or otherwise get fiber? And thus you don’t know how to buy for them? I know… it’s hard. You see all this lovely yarn that needs a home, and some of your family just can’t give it to them.

And are you concerned anything you do buy will become trapped in the gridlock of USPS?* What about sending a donation to a non-profit or charity on their behalf? Support a cause important to your loved ones this season.

Need some ideas? The organizations below all do amazing and necessary work:

And if your company matches donations, and you have the money to donate, please do so and don’t forget to claim the match.

*Given the huge increase in packages this year, plus the fact that postal carriers and their families are as vulnerable as anybody to Covid, I’m not surprised and generally very sympathetic to the challenges USPS is having. What’s more, UPS and FedEx can decline pick-ups and deliveries beyond their capacity. Guess who then ends up with those orders instead?

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