Taking detours

I finished my Haven scarf yesterday and can't wait to start wearing it. This is from Kim Hargreaves' book Heartfelt and I think it's the first thing I've made from the book, although I've admired about every design in it. I got some Cocoon in a Ravelry trade with a local gal and really wanted to make something nice with it. The two sweaters I started just didn't grab me, and then I read on Ravelry how this yarn pills horribly (and saw proof of that from someone who made a sweater out of it). So I abandoned the sweater project and decided to make Haven, my logic being that a scarf will not pill as badly as a sweater (we'll see). I still have two balls leftover, and someone suggested the Bella mittens. I think that's a great idea.

October is a weird month because there's Halloween, and our family likes to make stuff for Halloween. I'm sewing my own costume this year, for example. In years past, I've also made my son's costume, but this year we bought a Harry Potter robe for him. The Gryffindor scarves at the store looked purple, not maroon, and so I decided to knit one:


I made it 7-year-old size, so it's just 4 inches wide, knit in the round with cheap yarn. Doesn't show here, but it is a true maroon, not cranberry. So that's coming along--5 more repeats left, and fringe. Of course, it wasn't on my list of fall projects, and neither is this next project featuring:


yes, Malabrigo. After seeing what looked like a nice grey at the shop where I work, I just had to try it out. I bought enough to make Idlewood by Cecily G. MacDonald. Everything was going along well, or so I thought.


Let's say I'm not happy with my first Malabrigo experience! The variegations in the skein started pooling and, in my color, left darker "smudges" of grey that looked dirty next to the lighter ones. It's funny because the yarn doesn't look like it would have that effect in the skein. Even if I alternated balls of yarn, I didn't want the stripey look for this sweater, so it was frogged. Since I had wound two of the skeins, I can't return them, so I found another project for these and will return the other two that I bought.

While perusing Anthropologie's website, I noticed a lot of these big loopy cowls for fall:



Since I needed loooong color repeats, I thought this would be just the thing. I'm using a Drops pattern, although a pattern isn't really necessary. Below is the cowl doubled around the neck. It's pretty much just stockinette with garter borders. Such a long circle gives me a better chance of eliminating the pooling with this yarn. But I think I'm done with Malabrigo. I don't like finicky yarn!


I also saw on the Anthropologie website something that made me smile:




Fake fox stoles! But did you catch the prices on these?! Well, it makes me want to dig out my own Vegan Fox that has been hibernating a very long time. Who knows when people will be wearing them again. Mine's a silver fox, by the way.


So, while I did knit something with one of my chosen yarns for Fall 2010, I've gotten myself off on a tangent with these other projects. I'm also considering joining the Slogalong in Stash & Burn's group on Ravelry to finish up even more WIPs.

Oh, Melody asked about my drawing, which seems to have vanished from this blog! Well, I really miss it and fully intend to get back to my little studio soon. I still have a partially finished drawing of a cat and lots of ideas percolating for other things. So stay tuned :o)