Sometimes I pick up yarn and immediately know what it wants to be. A Fair Isle chart appears in my brain and I set to work getting it charted out before it disappears. Other times, yarn sits on my desk for weeks, sometimes even months. I pick it up, stare at it, sometimes even wind it up and swatch it, but it's just not the right match and it goes back to sitting on my desk until the perfect design comes along.
My latest design, the Chickaloon Cowl, was one of those designs that popped into my head immediately. I picked up the rich, deep barn red, and the lovely orange blend and knew a bold, geometric pattern was what it wanted to be. Each stitch was a delight to knit, it blocked beautifully, and when my model and I went out and I said "Wouldn't it be perfect if there was a yellow wall and a red wall next to each other for this shot?" We turned a corner and wouldn't you know it? Right in front of us was a red wall and a yellow wall directly next to each other.
A fan of women-run, local hand dyers, this was my first time using Spirit Trail Fiberworks yarn, a Virginia-based dyer I have seen at all the local fiber festivals. A 100% superwash worsted, Luna provides excellent stitch definition and worked up on US 5s and 7s for this stranded color work cowl. The easy garter borders ensure it won't curl, and this is my favorite sized cowl - not too snug, not too loose, not massively tall or so short it provides no warmth. What can I say? I adore this cowl!
There's something special about this design and the way it came together. It was one of those rare projects that seemed to design and knit itself, and the end result is something daring, striking, and exciting to knit. I plan on knitting this one again and again!
Download the Chickaloon Cowl here.
