Cast On: Neon Jungle

My morning sickness has not abated but it has eased some. And while Jellybean is still on a sleep jihad….my knitting mojo has returned some. Right now I need brain soothing easy knitting that is easy to pick up and put down.

I pulled one the last projects I kitted up for the 2017 Pigskin Party and got going on my Neon Jungle Cowl. This yarn has vexed me a bit as this is the third project I have tried it with. It knits up very nicely and the colors are lovely but something has just been not right up to this point.

I think this project might just be it. The pattern is a simple two row repeat and so far the gradient changes are showing off nicely. I’ll reserve final judgement until I get to the orange to yellow change as that will be the most vivid. But so far I am happy. And this rainbow has been a cheery change to the dreary cold winter.

Happy Knitting!!

FO Friday: Daunt Cowl

My Daunt Cowl is finished! Thanks to my hubby and some play dates I had some kid free time to dedicate to this project.

Pattern: Daunt Cowl by Kino Knits

Needles: US 4s

Yarn: Scraps for the stripes and 1 skein Happy Feet Splash for the MC all for a total of 1,013 yards

Mods: Omitted the short rows and accidentally seamed into a möbius

Other than my fail of seaming while watching a 5 yo and 3 yo leading to a unintentional möbius cowl I’m SUPER pleased! The colors play nicely and it’s very warm around my neck. The rainbow makes me happy and actually the möbius makes it hang nicely as a single loop.

It feels really good to get this knit off the needles and to start 2018 in a good place. Happy Knitting!!

WIP Wednesday: Daunt Cowl (#3)

My Daunt Cowl feels like it’s really picking up steam!!

Last I posted I was finishing the purples. Well, over the Christmas holiday weekend I plowed through the blues and greens. And then before New Years I worked through yellows. I am finding the shrinking yarn ball more of a motivation than the stripes. Which I think is a weird twist to this project. Usually it’s the color change that pulls at me.

I only have 4-5 colors left and I really want this cowl to be finished! Boy howdy is it cold here in Kansas!

Brrrr…..and Happy Knitting!!

WIP Wednesday #2: Daunt Cowl

My Daunt Cowl has been growing slowly oh low these past few weeks of potty training. I’m just now starting the last of the purples!

I’m still not sure I’m sold on the magic knots as I can tell where they are in my work. They are thus far staying on the back side of the work. But full disclose, I have not blocked this and blocking is ALWAYS magic. I do find myself rushing in order to get past the purples because up next is BLUE!

Happy Knitting!!

WIP Wednesday: Daunt Cowl

My Daunt Cowl has some seen some action!

I managed to plow throw the rows and rows of speckled solid color. I could not wait to start getting to the color changes!

I’ve now completed the three grey and black stripes. Next up is the purples in my rainbow of scraps. I just love looking at the rainbow cake unwind as I knit. It’s just so pretty!!

Happy Knitting!!

Daunt Progress

My Daunt Cowl has seen some action this week.

I had a two hour HIPAA training at work that was all slide show/webinar. I knew I needed something to stay awake so I knit quietly under the table and managed to rack up several inches of stockinette. I’m still in the solid main color section and that’s okay. But I can’t wait to get to the colors!

I also pressed a few small binder clips into service to keep my project from curling so I could observe actual knitting project. I know in my head that it grows with every row but it’s nice when my eyes can back up that logic, lol.

Happy Knitting!

Cast On: Daunt Cowl

Jellybean had his nasal procedure this week. This was preceded by much anxiety and worry by me the mother. He took the whole mess like a champ and fingers crossed he will be able to breath much better going forward.

I knew we would be sitting around the surgery center for a minute or two so I cast on my Daunt Cowl and started stitching. I managed an inch in under and hour in the waiting room.

I used some leftover bits from my Mom’s Christmas socks for the provisional cast on. I worked two rounds before switching to my live yarn. I contacted Mary of KinoKnits to ask about the pattern. Without giving away the secret sauce, a portion of the cowl involved short rows. And full disclosure I have no problem with short rows. But with my scraps spanning the rainbow the matchy-matchy portion of my brain wanted the thing to be the same all the way around. Mary kindly replied that no problem I could make the modification I wanted and still have a beautiful object.

I also made a what I think is a smart decision. I am working from the outside of the massive cake I wound. For two reason, the first being that my colossal cake wouldn’t collapse halfway done. The second being that working from the outside meant I worked the long stretch of main color solid section first and saved the color changes for last. I fee like this will keep me more motivated in the long run.

Happy Knitting!

Daunt Cowl Preparation 

Jellybean is now officially three. We had a blowout family bash that was totally spooky and Halloween themed. Literally my kid has not stopped talking about Halloween since last Halloween so we just kinda leaned into the theme for his birthday.

Well birthday party meant quality grandparent time which then correlates into mommy free time. I had been thinking more and more about the Daunt Cowl. The only thing holding me back was the lack of a good neutral in my stash. All my sock stash is highly variegated or self-striping. So I tip-toed over to my LYS and found a neutral sock yarn…..Plymouth Yarn Happy Feet 100 Splash in the Autumn color….

So while Jellybean was showing Papa around the local Zoo…I culled my sock scraps and found a rainbow’s worth. That’s 24 minis that go from grey/pink through the rainbow and back to grey. I made a pattern page here and you can see what my scraps are.

I painstakingly weighed and wound according to the directions and look what beauty I got!

Isn’t this about the best thing you have ever seen? My ball winder JUST barely was able to wind this bad-boy. It’s over 1,000 yards because some of my scraps were over the 5 gram suggested allotment. I wanted to use up as much as possible plus this now counts as a Blitz project for the #pigskinparty17 KAL!

I’m going to cast on as soon as my Reyna is finished 😉

Happy Knitting!!

A Sincere Lack of Motivation 

My Summer Morning Shawl still looks like this…


I just can’t make myself work on this. After some deep thought I realized I just don’t love this yarn and pattern combo. I’m also hating working back and forth in stockinette. So I’m going to frog it. This yarn deserves better. I managed to find a better pattern even!


@Jimmy Beans Wool

This is the Neon Jungle Cowl by Jimmy Beans Wool and I think will suit my Rainbow yarn just splendidly! I feel happier already knowing that this project will suit me much better.

Happy Knitting!