Tag Archives: Stephannie Tallent

For your neck

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This is the Verna Glass Copycat Cowl. It’s a freebie on Ravelry that echoes a very popular mass-produced hat, the CC Beanie.  Probably, in the mass-produced hat, the “CC” didn’t refer to “copycat.” But who knows how far back these copies go? Anyway, the CC Beanie has  been copied and refined in a number of hand-knit hats, including Jaye and Central Ave. And now Glass has added an interesting cowl to the mix.

On the neck, the Copycat tumbles in well-behaved purl ridges. This one is knit in Malabrigo Rios, an excellent draping worsted. Here’s the cowl laying flat.

The colorway is a big favorite of mine: Frank Ochre.

Since copycatting was fully out in the open, I decided to borrow some of Aimee Alexander’s refinements from her Central Ave hat in my blue version, knit in Stonehedge Fiber’s Shepherd’s Superwash.

I worked twisted rib instead of plain K1, P1. So, that means I knitted in the back of each knit stitch in the ribbing sections. And I knit 1 round after each of the increase knit rounds in the pattern. And instead of 1 round knit after the purl rounds, I knit 2 rounds. I was trying to give more definition to the ribbing and to set off the purl ridges a bit. The purl rolls are still distorted some from the tug of the increases even though I added an extra round of knit, but I believe the extra round (and a light steaming) helped tame that.

Finally, my lightweight superwash worsted wasn’t holding up well to 7 rounds of purl, so I purled only 6. And, in the final set of purl rounds, I purled 7 rounds instead of 8.

Here’s the modified Copycat.

The twisted rib stiffened the fabric some and made the purl ridges more pronounced. I like the look. But I’d probably knit the Glass version if I knit this again. The fact that so many folks are working with versions of this motif made me feel more free to experiment.

When it comes to textured cowls, the DK weight Chinle Cowl by Stephannie Tallent is a huge favorite of mine. There are only 12 projects posted on Ravelry for this cowl. And five of the projects are mine. This will be the first one I’m keeping for me. I see it as a pattern that definitely deserves more attention than it seems to be getting. I made my first one in the fall of 2014. $6.00 for the pattern, amortized over my five knits, is $1.20 per knit. I think I should probably make the math even easier and knit another one.

I knit mine in Anzula Cricket, a next-to-the-skin soft DK in 80% merino, 10% cashmere, and 10% nylon. Cricket knits up with great stitch definition. The Chevron Welt  biases the fabric to encourage the seed stitch layers to ripple. Brilliant!

Jo-Ann Klim’s Araluen Cowl is another great textured cowl that I’m loving but, at least in terms of number of Ravelry projects, it isn’t being much supported yet by knitters. There are 10 projects on Ravelry and three of them are mine. This is my latest, in Malabrigo Rios in the Archangel colorway.

It’s a seriously excellent pattern that has what I see as a vintage, almost-crocheted look. And, including because I don’t know how to crochet, that’s appealing to me.

I’ve gotten a ton of use out of my cowls this winter and spring. It’s been rainy with temperatures in the mid-30’s lately so, sadly, I am still wearing my cowls (even indoors) where they feel so very cozy. Our kayaks are resting near the lakeshore and I hope that this weekend it will be warm enough to get out for a paddle. But yesterday? Yesterday I was indoors, knitting while wearing one of my cowls.

Very pleasant trips

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So, a very good friend gave me a totally decadent yarnie holiday present in December: 300 yards of Reywa Fibers Harmony. It’s a 5-ply sportweight that blends 50% Tibetan yak and 50% fine wool. The company says it’s unbelievably soft. That’s true. Mine is the charcoal colorway.

The pattern is Laura Aylor’s Pleasant Trip. And I knit a good bit of it while I was on a trip to New Orleans for a conference. I know. People don’t generally go to NOLA and find time to knit. My hotel was in the French Quarter. I walked about enough to find the Quarter Stitch, a friendly shop on Chartres Street. I’m afraid I did do some stash enhancement there. They kindly mailed my purchase home for free. And then I headed back to my room to knit on Pleasant Trip. I’m just not a party animal.

Here’s a closer look at the pattern. Charcoal proved tough to photograph:

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We had some very cool days in Michigan even into May. So I wrestled my cowl away from Glass Head and actually already got some wear out of it. Great yarn. Excellent pattern.

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This next cowl is making a repeat repeat repeat performance on the blog. Yep, I’ve knit Stephannie (with two “n”s) Tallent’s Chinle Cowl four times. There are eight projects posted on Ravelry and half of them are mine.

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This one is knit in Michigan’s-own Fiberstory CORE dk, in the Aegean colorway. Sarah’s Etsy Shop isn’t stocked at the moment, but a 6.20.2016 post promises she’ll be back soon. Here’s a look at some of her yarn. CORE is 100% merino and very soft.

I made the medium size, but increased the length by an extra repeat of each motif. Glass Head says its comfy. She thinks it looks good with the color of her jaw.

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Michigan Crazy

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This Wurm is Crazy. That’s Katherina Nopp’s wildy popular Wurm hat pattern (mine is Wurm # 11,992 on Ravelry) and Stonehedge Fiber’s Crazy f/k/a Crazy Mill Ends. Nopp writes that Wurm has 3 special features: you can wear it with whatever kind of hair, it’s unisex, and it keeps ears extra warm. There are zillions of cool Wurms walking around on warm heads all over the world. The pattern was originally written in German and it’s been translated into English, French, Italian, and Finnish.

Of some interest on the extra warm ears part? That’s not one-by-one rib you’re looking at. It’s stockinette folded inward at a garter stitch turning ridge.

Here’s a better look at the top.

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Stonehedge Fibers says that Crazy is made from mill ends of Shepherd’s Wool and that it’s 100% merino. It’s considered a DK weight.

I used a different skein of Crazy, but actually they are all different, for another Chinle Cowl. This cowl, by Stephannie Tallent of Sunset Cat Designs, is a personal favorite. I’ve knit it four times in the past year and still don’t have one to call my own.

The work went from this:

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To this:

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My glass head finds it very cozy.

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Chinle Cowl

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This is the Chinle Cowl by Stephannie Tallent of Sunset Cat Designs. It’s a quick, fun, rhythmic  knit and one of many close-fitting cowls that I’ve been knitting lately. As Tallent puts it, “the textured and stockinette chevron patterns really let your yarn talk!” The yarn “talking” here is the very articulate Crazy 8s from Gecko Yarns, a 100% merino, DK weight. Here’s a closer look without the distraction of my glass head and its vintage mohair stuffing.

chinli_greenThe pattern calls for a worsted weight, but I decided to modify it for a DK. I cast on more stitches (143), used a size 5 US, and knit 5 chevron patterns. Tallent explains the math for the modification. I used 84 grams to complete the cowl.

Here’s the Chinle Cowl knit in the worsted that the pattern calls for: Anzula Cricket. Cricket is an 80% merino, 10% nylon, 10% cashmere concoction. It’s wonderful to work with. I had only a partial skein remaining, so I knit the small size. Even the small fits over my pumpkin head. My niece Kelly look great in it!

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Here’s another look.

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