Stealth Knitting

My friend Serena recently turned 30 (I hope it's okay to say that!), and I wanted to knit something for the occasion. Obviously, I couldn't blog about it, but since it's been gifted and photographed, I can finally talk about it here.

I enjoy knitting for Serena because she actually appreciates the time and work that goes into a knitting project (or maybe she's just a really good actress??). A couple of years ago, I knit her what we dubbed the "Mango Scarf." She picked out the yarns herself, Lion Brand Microspun in "Lime" doubled with Lion Brand Fun Fur in "Citrus." It's more of a fall scarf than a winter scarf, but it gets a lot of use. Waiting for the bus in the chilly air definitely is not fun, and she and I generally pad ourselves with an assortment of mismatched hats, hooded scarves, mittens, and gloves. As a knitter, I know that I really need to remedy the mismatch situation, and I thought now was as good a time as any. I was not slowed down in my efforts to knit a fall/winter garment in the heat of August, mainly because the husband keeps our townhouse at a temperature suitable for a meat locker. I'm constantly bundled up in the warm crocheted afghan given to us by my grandmother.

So, without further ado, I present...

The Wavy Cowl
Pattern: Wavy from Knitty
Yarn: Lion Brand Homespun (98% acrylic, 2% polyester), Florida Keys Green (about 1/4 of the skein)
Needles: U.S. 11 straights, Susan Bates, aluminum
Modifications: Other than using a different yarn and larger needles than the scarf pattern, I knit 2 pattern repeats, bound off, then sewed the cast-on and bind-off edges together to create the cowl.

The Wavy pattern is not visible in the pictures, but it shows up well in person. I like the color of the yarn, and I hope it's a close enough match to the scarf. (Otherwise, I'm just exacerbating the mismatch problem!) I'm not a fan of boucle type yarns, and Homespun to me resembled Lion Brand Boucle (a yarn I wasn't fond of because it made me itch and kept kinking up). It bunched up while knitting, and it's easy to accidentally insert the needle tip into the yarn itself instead of the stitch, which was a pain. Still, I think the finished product turned out nice and soft, and hopefully it'll prove to be warm.

(And Serena, Happy Birthday, my "old" friend!)



**Photos Copyright 2007 Serena M. Agusto-Cox**