Seamless Pullover and Monster of a Cowl

i confess that i haven't been the best about good photos of my finished objects. it's not something that i really wanted to do until i started reading michelle's posts. she does fantastic photography and her pictures on her rav project pages are incredible. definitely something that i would love to accomplish in my own crafting life. after reading this post over the summer, i realized that good pictures of my finished objects aren't as daunting as i thought. so, one of my goals this year is to take better pictures in general.

we have had cold temperatures here the last few days. waking up to 18 degree mornings is a little unusual for us this early in the winter but as a knitter and lover of anything handmade, i'll take it as a great opportunity to put on all the hand knits. i went for my favorite knit piece right now and an older pullover to wear yesterday morning and realized that this was the perfect time for some pictures. they aren't perfect, but they're a start.

monster cowl

what a great pattern! this chevron cowl makes for a great addition to my closet. what i love about this pattern is that you can make a statement piece with bright colors, or a neutral piece to go with coats for the winter. i have already knit 3 of these cowls because they were great for gifts at Christmas. after knitting the third, i said that i wouldn't knit the pattern again, but i think i might try for a 3-color version next time. the pattern calls for aran weight yarn, on US size 9 needles, meaning it's a quick knit for sure. for my cowl, i wanted a big squishy cowl, so i knit as far as i could stand it....i think i came to a final measurement of 50" before grafting the ends together. i used malabrigo worsted in the purple mystery colorway and luna grey fiber arts neptune in the moss colorway. the construction of the two yarns rmatched perfectly and i couldn't be more happy with the finished object! you do have a lot of ends to weave in when you're finished, but the designer gives great photo instructions on how to do it. just start a show on netflix and it won't take any time at all!

seamless pullover

for the pullover, the pattern was actually a percentage recipe from the great Elizabeth Zimmermann. we knitters know all about EZ but if you don't, i suggest picking up this book for your library. the recipe for this sweater actually came from this book. she has several other books, so you could pick those up as well ;) for a knitter, a recipe is simply instructions that lead you to create the pattern that you want. it's based entirely on you the knitter- how you knit and what you are wanting to achieve. it may seem scary...trust me, i know...but it is entirely worth it. i learned so much from knitting this pullover. the meaning of ease of how you use it in a pattern, attaching sleeves in-the-round to a bottom-up sweater, gauge and how important it is...i could go on and on. this sweater came out a bit tighter than i wanted, especially in the sleeves but i learned and did something outside of my comfort zone and i plan on knitting another pullover sometime this year. the sweater is knit out of quince and co lark in the river colorway...you may recognize the yarn from the first barley hat i knit earlier this year. that hat out of the leftover yarn from this sweater. i looooooove this yarn...it's affordable, made in the US, and it creates such an amazing fabric. you should definitely order a skein and just swatch with it. it's magnificent. i would also recommend knit.fm podcast- pam allen is the woman behind quince and co and hannah fetig is one of my favorite designers. they're podcast gives great information that is useful for knitting this type of project. really, anyone who is a knitter should listen...and take notes! the sweater was knit on US size 5's and you can find information about my gauge and other info on my project page.