Current Cowl

I'm pretty psyched over here.  Chris from ChrisKnitsSews asked me to test knit her new cowl/showl pattern.  Have you ever heard the term showl?  I hadn't heard it used before I began reading about Chris's adventures designing her cowl but this week I've seen multiple people mention it.  In any event, in case you are in the dark like I was, a showl is a cross between a cowl and a shawl.  In other words, it's a cowl, but more shawl sized.  Cowl + shawl = showl.  Brilliant!

Anyway....

I'm test knitting Chris's newest showl design and it's going very well.

Current Cowl knit with Eucalyptus Leaves

The knitting is going much better than my photo taking, that's for sure!  With my work schedule, photos are either taken at 3:00 a.m. or or outdoors, in the bright, noon sun.  You're just going to have to take my word for it that the yarn I'm using is a gorgeous pale grayish green.

You can see Chris's finished version here.  Chris asked me to test knit the smallest size (there's a small, medium & large) but it looks like I'll have enough yarn so I'm going to knit the large one.  Or the medium, if the yarn doesn't hold out.  But I think it will.

Anyway, the pattern....  The smallest version is cowl sized and called Current Cowl.  The largest is definitely shawl sized and is therefore the Shoulder Showl.  The pattern isn't for sale yet but keep your eyes peeled for it.  You won't want to miss it.  I know I'll be knitting multiples.

The design is super simple to knit yet never boring.  You're constantly changing stitch patterns, yet the patterns repeat so it's easily remembered.  The cowl starts off being knit flat then gets joined in the round after a while.  By starting off flat, you get a sort of v-neck shape so that the finished showl doesn't bunch up weirdly around your neck.  I love patterns that incorporate this feature.

So yes, I'm loving knitting the cowl/showl.

And then there's the yarn.  Oh! My! Goodness!  I'm in SO much trouble!  I'm supposed to be using up/getting rid of/not buying any more yarn because we'll be moving soon and my yarn stash already requires it's own oversized moving van.  Then Chris tells me that if I test knit the pattern, she'll supply the yarn.  And she tells me to go to Forbidden Fiber Co. to pick out a skein.

Like there's a chance in Hell I could pick just one.  I think there are only two skeins on the whole website I didn't drool over.  I made Chris pick for me.  She picked Eucalyptus Leaves.

Eucalyptus Leaves Fortitude from Forbidden Yarn Co.

And I love it.  The skein I received isn't anywhere near as variegated as the photo shows, but for this project, I'm glad of it.  The yarn is by no means a solid green, but from looking at the photo I'd have expected it to be stripey or spotty.  It's not.  It's simply lovely.  It's a superwash merino, delightfully soft and has great stitch definition.  It also arrived super fast, which is always a good thing.

And did you see all the colors the yarn comes in?  I am in SO much trouble!  I should just go ahead and reserve a second moving van now.

And,

pumpkin stitch marker

The yarn came with The cutest little pumpkin stitch marker.  I just want to knit All the fall things with this little pumpkin's help.