Taking a cotton to it

Here's a close-up shot of my high-end cowl-in-progress.  I wasn't really getting anywhere at first because I was using a metal circular needle that had a slightly rough join.  The silk yarn gripped the metal, and when I started knitting with the slubby cotton the trouble really started -- it kept getting caught at the join, and at one point it broke entirely.  Finally, I went out and got a wooden circ with a smooth join, and now the knitting is zooming right along.

The rolled edge at the bottom is intentional; it's part of the overall design.  So is the canting in the cotton yarn.  When your knitting first appears on the needles, it's organized and reasonably straight, but once it's been hanging around for a bit and you've handled it for a while, the twist in the singles takes over and produces a really interesting texture.  You can see this a little bit in the photo here -- at the top, the knitting is still fairly fresh.  The stitches seem separate and they line up in their rows.  At the bottom, the cotton has become a more cohesive fabric with a definite right-hand lean.

The silk makes a perfect contrast.  The yarn is even, shiny, and makes straight rows, so you get a better feel for the cotton's disorganization.  The project is light as a feather, by the way, and will make a sweet summer cowl.

When I first saw the project (it rolled across my Pinterest page, courtesy of K--) I was intrigued but didn't think I'd ever make it.  Still, I pinned it.  I'd visit it every now and then, follow the link to the Purl Soho website, think about what yarns I'd use (aside from the ones called for by the designer), and even got the free pattern.  I don't know what finally hooked me - the texture?  The richness of the yarns?  The simplicity of the design?  The color?  I thought about making it in another color, because the yarn comes in a variety of hues.  Lavender would be pretty, yes, but I kept coming back to the white.

This is my second white cowl since winter began.  Does it reflect a longing for snowy landscapes?  I don't think so!  I had my fill of those over Christmas.  I don't generally wear a lot of white, so it's not something that will just blend into the wardrobe.  I don't know how long this white phase will last, but hopefully long enough that I can ... wait for this one ... finish the Pi Shawl.

The other day Sis asked me if I have ever had a project that I had frogged multiple times, and it made me think of the Pi Shawl.  I started and frogged that one a bunch of times.  I took it to England, worked on it, frogged it, re-started it, frogged it... anyway, I told my sister that I was too far into the shawl by now to frog it again in spite of a few errors in it.  Then I took it out to look.  I had to get out my Elizabeth Zimmermann book and look at the picture of the finished shawl in order to believe what I was seeing.

I am about twelve rounds shy of starting the edging.  That's all.  That's it.  Twelve rounds, if that many.  Long ones, yes, but only twelve of them.

World, meet the new Travel Knitting carried by the hardy denizen of Orchard Ranch.