A Cowl of An Adventure

During my Puget Sound LYS Tour 2016, I stopped by a shop called Acorn Street Shop with my entourage.  My brother-in-law's girlfriend, A was simply taken by the shop and all of the scarves she saw hanging.  She actually asked me if I could make a scarf like "this".  Now, let me explain ... A is not the kind of person who would normally ask something like this but I think she was so smitten with the shop and its yarn, she couldn't help herself! ;)  I was so touched that she thought I'm such a skilled knitter, that I said, "Yeah ... I think I could do that.  Do you like it?  I'd love to make you something."  

That's when the search began ... finding the perfect scarf pattern that A would like.  We searched high and low in the shop and she fell in love with quite a few scarves.  We ended up choosing the yarn first then finding the right pattern for the yarn.  She saw this Malabrigo Rios yarn and simply had to have it:

Then, we narrowed down to one (1) scarf sample A liked; I looked it up on Ravelry (this yarn shop is amazing - they had everything labeled on the sample, including where to find the pattern!) and I tried to figure out where I could make it a tad longer as it was kind of short on A.  To be sure I had enough yarn, I managed to snag one of the ladies working in the shop to see if my idea would work; she looked over the beloved yarn and said that perhaps for the weight that we're using, this other scarf would look better.  Hence, the hunt continued (I think by this time, the rest of my entourage, Hubby and his brothers, were wondering what the heck we were doing in there! :P).  We searched high and low (again) to look at all of their scarf samples.  Then we came upon their pattern wall (yes, a wall full of various patterns one could buy) and started looking in there.  The lady showed us this cowl pattern called: Acorn Street Shop Basic Collection: Chain Link Cowl and then found an actual sample of it; A just fell in love with it.  So now, I'm making a cowl - something I thought I'd never make since I'm (personally) not into cowls (I just don't think they're as versatile as a shawl or scarf (or what I tend to make: mini blankets disguised as shawls or scarves)).  And here my new adventure begins:

I used my Chiaogoo Spin US 8 needles and casted on the required number of stitches as stated on the pattern using a long tail cast on (the pattern didn't say what kind of cast on to use but it does say that I need to end with a knit stitch so, I figured that this would be a close enough matching cast on stitch) and proceeded to follow the pattern.  (Sorry, can't show you how the pattern is written because it's copyrighted so, if you're interested in the pattern, you'll need to call or e-mail the shop for this pattern.)

It actually was quite easy and I actually finished this project quite quickly.  The yarn was very easy to work with, particularly in the heat of summer and the coloration was amazing.  I can see why people love Malabrigo so much.

After I finished the cowl, I realized that there was enough for at least one more knitted item.  So working with A, I also made her a pair of fingerless mitts to keep her fingers warm during her early morning (or late evening) strolls with her dog, Sammy.  The Squish Mitts, a free pattern on Ravelry, was my inspiration for her mitts.  Here's how I made it:
Using Chiagoo Twist US 8, cast on 28 sts using the German twisted cast on and join in the round.
P 29 rows
P10, place 8 sts on st holder, p10
P 28 rows
Bind off fingers
Pick up the remaining 8 sts and 3 additional sts, P
P 1 row
P 3 sts, p2tog 2x
P 3 rows
Bind off thumb

Now that everything was (finally) finished, it needed to be washed.  I washed it with a few squirts (like two (2) squirts) of shampoo and let it soak for 15-20 minutes; then I put everything on a towel (I used an hand towel), roll it up and pressed down on the towel to get out the water (A, if you're reading this, no ringing, just press down!  It'll feel damp but when you lay it flat to dry on your drying rack, it'll be fine.  I promise. ;)).  Boy, the yarn soaked up a lot of water and was a bit linty! :P  Each item was really floppy when it came out so, I decided to block it:

Man! :)  I really love the blocking set my Mom got me!  It comes in so handy! :)  Thanks again, Mom!! :) (A, don't worry; you won't need to block your items if you don't want to when you wash it.)

And, (drumroll) here's my finished products!

I hope A loves these items!  Thank you, A for helping me stretch my skills, having me make my very first cowl as well as learn how to do a German twisted cast on!  I hope this keeps you warm this fall and winter! :)  Our courier service will be bring it over to you shortly! ;)

Up-date:  A loves her cowl, mitt set and is excited to start using it this fall! :) *yay*  And, here's what it looks like on my live model: