a little too human.

Apparently my ability to read and follow directions has been impaired. I’ve been working on “need for tweed” for about a week now, making lovely progress, admiring and appreciating the perfect and defined stitches - an important moment for a newly converted continental knitter. 

Stuck in the middle of a horrific week academically, I pulled out my cowl to knit on and relax while I enjoyed the finally gorgeous weather from my stoop of a porch during my hour long break between classes. I was thrilled to be done with the first section and on to the second. I attached my Debbie Bliss Glen to my already knitted Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran section and dove into the greyish pink yarn with enthusiasm. I had my Cowlgirls in my lap, which I am rarely without by the way (it even comes to class with me), to admire the picture and future for my cowl while diligently following the directions, or so I thought anyway... 

But really my direction following at this point was okay, it was my direction following a week ago that was going to get me in trouble. A pattern set into the Glen - daydreaming Trish might read this as “one glass into my Glenlivet...” - and many deep gazes into the book’s photograph and it hits me. I used the WRONG yarn for the wrong sections in the cowl! The pattern calls for two skeins of Debbie Bliss Luxury Tweed and one skein of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino chunky - I am substituting Luxury Tweed for Glen. Now if only I had read the directions more carefully or even thought about it logically, I would have seen the cowl as a sandwich : Luxury Tweed - Cashmerino - Luxury Tweed. But no, of course not. I thought of it as: Cashmerino - Glen - Glen, what a dummy!

So here is my lovely “need for tweed”, halfway done and waiting to be ripped out, stitch by stitch. 

At least I had these beautiful Valentine’s roses from Sam to cheer me up! 

And a grow your own diamond ring from my friend Annie. 

The completed transformation. 

I had high hopes that this cowl would be ready to show off tonight, but it looks like I’m in for the long haul. I had plans of getting back on track this weekend when I had seemingly nothing to do, but instead chose to rip apart my apartment, move around ALL of the furniture, and attempt to put it back together again. Not so helpful for finishing my cowl, but it needed to be done, in a big way. More “need for tweed” updates to come this week!

i liked it and i put a ring on it.

So I have to start out by saying that I absolutely LOVE all of the wonderful comments y’all have been leaving me. I love opening up my email to a message in my inbox that reads, “Blank commented on Calling All Cowlgirls” it brightens my day. I enjoy your feedback and I am excited that there are other knitters as excited about this book as I am! It truly is amazing!!

But back to business. When I last left you I had just received my first shipment of yarn from my favorites - the Loops Troops. I received the yarn for the cowl next in line, “put a ring on it”. In my last post I noted that on the tag of the Blue Sky Alpacas Bulky Naturals read “fat, fast & fun”. And let me tell you, they ain’t lying! I was so excited about the yarn that I managed to finish the next cowl before I could even set aside enough time to write about the yarn I had been waiting for so anxiously. The cowl took me probably two days and I hardly had more than minutes to work on it at a time. 

Here is the cowl shortly after cast on! I know it is hard to really see the colors - I'm working on finding a better camera and a better photographer - bear with me here

This would be a wonderful cowl for a beginner knitter. It encompasses a lot of basic skills: knit, purl, knitting in the round, changing colors...and is knit on super bulky yarn! Also, because it is so quick to knit it brings an almost instant gratification, which is very important for new knitters. I learned to knit when I was probably eight and my first project was a garter stitch scarf knit with worsted weight on maybe a size 8 needle. This is much too time consuming for an early project, especially for a short attention-span child. I wasn’t able to finish it fast enough and it therefore led me to drop the knitting for a couple of years. And this was not the last time I would set my needles down a while. But anyways, this is a great beginner cowl, nothing tricky!

I just love this cowl and it is so fun and easy to wear.  It is an awesome way to add a little bit of excitement to your closet’s basics. I like to pair it with a plain white tee, jeans, and cardigan - perfect for class or errands around town. 

Wow! That's more like it! That's how the colors actually look...


The finished cowl took me 3 skeins of Blue Sky Alpacas Bulky Naturals in the MC and 1 skein of Blue Sky Alpacas Bulky Naturals in the CC.

Next in line is Cathy’s “need for tweed”. I think this one is super cute and I can’t wait to get started! Here is a preview of the yarn for this cowl - ALL Debbie Bliss! I love Debbie Bliss, that cashmerino is addicting. 

I am skipping “wrapture” for now because rumor has it that Loops found the PERFECT yarn for this when they were at market. It hasn’t arrived yet but I can guarantee that the yarn will be here within two days of it making its way to Tulsa! So stay tuned, there’s more excitement to come!

please wait just a minute mr. postman.

I have always been one of those hopeless romantics. Dreaming up the perfect surprise dates, gorgeous weddings, and romantic proposals, and then feeling rather disappointed when my fantasies somehow didn’t manage to materialize. I think that Sam could attest to this fact, especially around Valentine’s Day. Sam, probably like most men, hates Valentine’s Day and I, on the other hand, am the girl who never lets a Valentine’s Day go by without being sure to wear red or pink. I love Valentine’s Day! But what’s funny is that my ability to dream up these romantic fantasies doesn’t stop there. For about a week now I have been waiting on a package. And not just any package, I have been waiting on THE package. 

Now you may have noticed that on the right-hand side of my blog, I have a section titled, “the sponsors”. These lovely sponsors are totally responsible for making this blog run. I really couldn’t do it without them, really. I am a broke, starving college student, remember? So as my sponsors, the luscious ladies of the loops troops and the ever-fabulous Trish the Dish are supplying all of the yarn for this endeavor! I can’t thank you guys enough!! 

Last week Shelley told me the Loops Troops were poring over the perfect yarn for my next two cowls...and they hoped to ship before the weekend... So naturally, everyday as I got out of class I rushed home to check the package’s whereabouts. Then I got a text from Shelley: “Omg! The yarn hasn’t been shipped!! It WILL be shipped today (Friday)!” Now I was bummed of course, but considering the treacherous ice storms looming over Oklahoma I could totally understand. So Monday rolls round, I get out of class at 2 pm and I race home for the mail. Still, no package. And I think well let’s see it went out priority, surely it will be here tomorrow. Tuesday comes, still no package :(. This time I decide to text Shelley: “NO yarn! AHHH! The suspense is killing meee!”  Okay Okay, it will be here tomorrow, I tell myself, stop freaking out! 

And now Wednesday... Again I’m done at 2pm and I bolt home. The package WILL be here today! But it wasn’t. More frantic text messages to Shelley. A little flustered by my inability to control my anxiousness, I went over to a friends to take the yarn off my mind. On my way home, my imagination starts cooking. I am thinking, “Well I bet that it was delivered to the wrong house, and I bet that they returned it! It is totally going to be sitting there waiting for me!” As I pulled in my drive, it wasn’t by my mailbox. Of course it wasn’t, the mailman had already come today and I had already seen that the package was not there. I have to stop getting my hopes up like that, it’s killer. So I park in the garage and walk solemnly up my porch, another day, no package. But just as I climbed that top step, there it was. Just as I had imagined. Sitting there waiting for me, as though it always had been. 

Bella, my cat was extremely excited about THE package as well. 

Am I spoiled or what? It felt like my birthday! One really fun part of this is that I have given the Loops Troops free reign in choosing the yarn. I simply send them the gauge requirements and they surprise me with the colors!

So here we are cowl number three! This is the yarn I will be using for "put a ring on it," the second pattern in the book. This is the Blue Sky Alpacas Bulky Naturals (50% alpaca/50% wool). My cowl will be grass green with a ring of chocolate brown. Can't wait to wind! A little note: I couldn't help but notice on the back of the label it says, "fat, fast & fun". I sure do like the sound of that. Click here to buy this yarn!