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Figgy Cowl

Ok, I just made up that name because the pattern I used is called Paprika Seed Cowl by Heather Hill and it looks like this:

Photo credit:  Universal Yarns

One might argue the colours look like paprika.  To say I followed a pattern is a misnomer.   Only 21 stitches were used in my version.  I thought the yarn was a DK weight and it was at the start, but as I moved into the ball of yarn it became worsted, aran and then chunky and then total combinations of all those weights.  My size US 5/3.75 mm needles were tough to knit with as the size of the yarn grew.  Such is life knitting with my hand spun.

I think the colours in my polwarth/silk roving look more like figs, both fresh and dried, what with the purple, gold and green so I call this my Figgy Cowl. 

Stock photo



It is much shorter because the hand spun was only 97 yards.  This is the yarn crowed about during a recent post; the one where I bragged about the yarn being consistent and fine.  It turns out in the knitting with it I found the yarn was neither.  The right side of the photo shows the thin and rather consistent bobbin done second in the spinning process.  The left side was spun first and has some problems.  But I love the colours so I will wear this with my purple coat and it will keep my neck very warm.  Oh, the closure is a needle felted button made from the leftover scraps and a single crocheted loop.  The bulk of the "button" is a small hand wound ball of yarn I had in stash so it didn't take much of the hand spun to complete it.

Finally Monday and Tuesday were just gorgeous days here, dry, sunny and near 60 degrees F/ 15.5 C.  Here's what it looked like from my deck on Tuesday afternoon:

There's even some red maples between the two white towers and snow on the distant mountains

But today the weather changed:

Same photo on Wednesday morning

Dad was so mesmerized by the view when he visited in 2003.  The tide goes in and out of the Inlet, there is snow on the mountain peaks a great deal of the year, and the weather especially in the fall when he visited is so volatile that the view is ever changing.  Dad said looking at our view was like watching a movie.  I try to remember that and never take this lovely scenery for granted even when it is not exactly drop dead gorgeous.

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