in the snood. out of order.

You could say that I am a fan of order. My clothes are hung by color and weight. My yarn stash, grouped by color. My methods for organizing my school work are refined to the most meticulous of details. And thus far, I have upheld my personal vow to knit my cowls in order of the book. I like order. But with a surprise shipment of Tanglewood, I am allowing myself a slight deviation from my plan, absolutely unable to resist the temptation of knitting with Tanglewood. 

A couple of weeks ago, I was delighted to see a package on my doorstep bearing the infamous Tanglewood return stamp (a stamp I became quite accustomed to using while shipping out orders last summer). Inside, I found two honking skeins of Northwest Autumn in superwash, fresh off the drying rack. The yarn is still filled with the aroma of fresh lavender from setting. I wound the yarn immediately, casted on all 90 stitches and dove right in. 

This eyelet cowl was featured in Vogue Knitting Holiday 2009. After adoring Trish’s many knitted samples of this cowl, she directed me to the magazine. This was my introduction to Cathy Carron, and well to Vogue Knitting to begin with. Trish told me all about the cowl and how it would be appearing in Cathy’s upcoming book, Cowlgirls. Emily, the “together” intern, immediately photocopied two of this pattern and it has been sitting in my notebook since. Emily would be the one to photocopy the pattern, huh Trish? 

My cowl is in the same colorway, Northwest Autumn, as the one in the book. Cathy uses Trish’s MAC (merino/angora/cashmere) and I used superwash. The superwash is moderately less expensive and still looks great! The colors are so rich and amazing. They scream Northwest Autumn and just looking at this cowl makes me long for my days in St. Helens. Hardly a day goes by that I don’t wish I was waking up to the majestic mountains and lush foliage of the Pacific Northwest. 

This is the absolute best yarn for knitting. Not only does it feel like heaven, even the superwash, every stitch is unique. I often found myself saying “Okay, just knit to the end of this stretch of color,” until I saw the next stretch of color and was saying it all over again! The yarn is addicting. Literally. Many know Tanglewood yarn as “the crack yarn,” keeps you coming back for more and more and more. I think Gina Hills of Loops would attest to this... she has quite the stash of Tanglewood!

The pattern and the yarn makes this cowl blissfully easy to knit, the most difficult skill being a yarn over. However, Cathy's note in the book is that this would be a great beginner piece for the novice lace knitter - great recommendation. The yarn over rows make the cowl a quick knit and with the climbing temperatures, it was a relief to knit something eyelet. Many have commented that this is their favorite cowl so far, I just might have to agree :)

Next I am jumping back to my order and continuing with “fit to be tied” in my favorite color, purple! Until next time. 

Mariel.