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FO Friday: Manos Cowl + Gotland Handspun

Grey has always been one of my favorite colors. With my coloring, there are more than a few colors I simply can't wear, but grey has always been something I can fall back on (not to mention, it looks great with just about any color, much as black does). So I guess it's fitting that my first two finished projects to share in 2014 are grey: first, a cowl knit in Manos Maxima's Foil colorway, and second, my first handspun project of the year spun from Grey Gotland top.
Cowl blocking in progress!
I knit the I Wish I was Weaving This Cowl on my trip to Kansas City last week; it only took two days, in fact! It was the perfect "conversation" project since the basket weave stitch pattern was easy to memorize. The pattern is available for free on Ravelry from the talented Liz Abinante of Feministy.

While I was out of town, I pined for my spinning wheel. I'd taken a hiatus prior to the holidays so that I could focus all of my free time on gift-making, so by the time I got home I was literally champing at the bit. I dusted off my wheel last weekend (quite literally) and decided to start spinning some of the fibers I'd purchased at the last SOAR: first, I spun through a single of CVM, Alpaca, Silk and Bamboo roving from Fiber Curio and Sundries (more on that later), then I moved on to the Grey Gotland top I'd purchased at the Spinning Straw Into Gold booth.
Grey Gotland roving from Spinning Straw Into Gold.
This fiber had been tempting me in particular - while most of what I'd read about the breed suggested that commercially prepared top would be matte rather than lustrous, the fiber I had was the exception to the rule. It was also rather heavy (you know, for fiber...), and the singles I spun had a surprising halo which only increased when I plied it. I split the roving by weight so that I could do a 2-ply, and was pretty excited when I had nearly the same yardage for both singles when it was time to ply them together. I have no idea what I'll be knitting with this yarn, but it feels soft yet sturdy - perhaps an earflap hat might be a good project?

Thanks for stopping by this week - for more FO Friday inspiration, visit the Tami's Amis blog.


Have a crafty weekend! 

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Comments

  1. UnknownJanuary 3, 2014 at 9:51 AM

    That yarn is gorgeous!! And thanks for the reminder I need to find an earflap pattern for my nephew! LOL

    ReplyDelete

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