Madelintosh Honey Cowl

Gobs of folks love Madelintosh. I’d never tried it. This is Tosh Merino DK in the grasshopper colorway. Definitely love the color. And the yarn is soft, with an especially cushiony feel worked up in this easy slip stitch pattern. Honey Cowl is a free pattern on the Madelintosh website, also available through Ravelry.

My Honey Cowl is knitted in the largest size, using two skeins of this rather expensive yarn. For a special project, I’d say it’s definitely worth it. The colorway is very subtly variegated. You’ll not have to deal with any kind of striping effect. The two row honeycomb pattern, worked on size 8 circular needles, becomes a bit tedious. Long rows with no variation. But hang in there because it’s worth the effort. The fabric ends up with a right side and a wrong side, but both sides look good.

Hanging around the neck, it’s a long cowl. There’s enough length to it to twist and double the fabric. And is also works as a head scarf and cowl combination. Quite versatile.

Porcupine

“If you have a good defense, being smart or fast is overrated.”  Steve.

Porcupine: “This is a DEELICIOUS downed branch I’ve happened upon here in the middle of the path.”

“Yipes. Trapped like a rat, whatever a rat is. I don’t know what that big ugly thing is but I better boogie to cover.”

“I’ve now assumed the standard porcupine defense of hiding my head behind something while brandishing my impressive array of painful quills. Hopefully the big ugly thing believes that old wive’s tale, whatever a wive is, whatever a tale is, that I can shoot these quills of mine at will.”

“Can’t resist sneakin’ a peek to see how much I’ve terrified my wannabe attacker.”

Firepit

We gather around the firepit on a dark, chilly night. Even if all you are doing is having good unspooky conversation and roasting marshmallows, you can’t help but look beyond what the fire lights.  At least in Michigan, you know you aren’t going to be some creature’s evening snack. Nothing bigger than a raccoon is likely moving about. The 2000 or so black bears that live in Michigan’s lower peninsula hardly ever even claw at people. But gazing into the shadows, it’s still easy to remember what scary stuff our ancestors knew could be lurking there.

This night was a cool almost-fall night. The sky was clear. We could look up and see our Milky Way galaxy all milky like it is, and was.

Starfish Cloth

Who knows why we knit what we knit. Not me. This is Dione Reed’s Starfish Cloth, a free pattern on her Sew-Funky website and on Ravelry. It’s one of those things you just want to try to knit for the fun of it. You end up with a fairly serviceable dishcloth or washcloth, but that’s really not the point. I used oddments of Lion Brand Cotton-Ease.  Left over from, of course, other dishcloths I’ve knitted.

I can see it knit large with a newborn plunked down in the middle for a photo op or a nice comfy nap. In a tighter gauge and with more forgiving yarn, I believe the gappy divides between the colors would be tamed. A quick knit, with lots of bang for the buck.