Skip to main content

Louet Fall Collection: Emin by Anne Podlesak

Photo © Caro Sheridan
I hope everyone is having a great holiday weekend; I am excited to be today's stop for the Louet Fall Collection Blog tour! If you haven't seen their new fall collection, click here to check it out on the Louet Blog. There are plenty of knit-worthy sweaters and accessories for fall (and even some crochet-worthy ones, too!).

When I signed up for the tour, I immediately went digging through my yarn stash to find all of my GEMS yarn - turns out, I have quite a bit of Sport on hand! As luck would have it, I had the exact same color of yarn shown for the Emin Cowl, Hat, and Mittens; it also happens to be one of my absolute favorite colors.

Though you probably noticed that all three pieces are listed separately on Ravelry, the actual pattern includes instructions to make all 3, making the $7.50 purchase price an absolute steal!

There are two size options for the cowl, and I made the smaller version, which is a close-fitting 20" circumference that will be great for layering under a scarf or wearing around the house. I ended up knitting the entire project in just 3 days; I'm sure folks who practice project monogamy could even finish it faster than that!

The smaller-sized cowl took less than a skein of yarn, and the larger size (40" circumference)  calls for two. Should you want to make a matching hat or mittens, you'll need 2 more skeins of yarn (one for the hat and one of the mittens).

The stitch pattern is charted and it's ideal for cabling without a cable needle, which I opted to do for my project. It was fairly easy to memorize and keep track of where I was in the chart simply by looking at my work, which is probably why it knit up so fast.

The only modification I made was in the cast-on; while the pattern calls for the long-tail cast-on, I opted to use the crochet cast-on because it more closely matches the bound-off edge (note: while pretty much every tutorials talks about using this cast-on provisionally with waste yarn, I highly recommend trying it with your actual yarn to create a nice, neat edge without using a ton of yarn!).

Given the circumference of the smaller size, however, it does seem like a stretchier cast-on such as the one called for is way more appropriate. I happen to have a pretty small head, so my finished cowl is quite easy to slip on and off, but I wouldn't recommend substituting a less stretchy cast-on if you are concerned about fit.


The stitch definition provided by the high twist of the GEMS yarn is quite striking, as you can see in the photo above. In addition to textured stitches, it's also great for colorwork and stripes, as I discovered with my own recent design in GEMS, the Chittery Chattery Socks.

If you're planning on gift knitting this holiday season, GEMS is a superwash yarn that is soft enough for next-to-skin wear, yet hard-wearing and pill resistant. You can find out more about GEMS here on the Louet blog!

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Overdyeing A Finished Knit

Even after just a few years of knitting or crocheting, you're bound to have some finished projects lying around that never get worn or used. After 10+ years of crafting, I have more than just "some" or "a few"....and with my ongoing quest to declutter my house this year, I've become obsessed with going through these forlorn projects and making some Big Decisions. Sometimes, they are perfectly fine and just need a new and loving home. Other projects may have not turned out quite right: there might have been some mistakes in the knitting that I thought I could live with, or the yarn was gorgeous but not well-matched to the pattern, or my  taste has drastically changed since I finished making the project...in any case, why on earth did I keep knitting?! Who knows, but I don't feel good about gifting anything that falls into this category to someone else. These projects have been relegated to the "frog pile" (or should I say, frog pond?), to b...
Post a Comment
Read more

Easy DIY: Beaded Vintage Snowflake Ornament Kits from Solid Oak Inc.

I was really excited to step outside of my comfort zone and try something new as part of my "Christmas in July" theme this month. The kind folks at Solid Oak Inc offered me a chance to review one of their Nostalgic Christmas beaded crystal ornament kits I couldn't resist. My tree is already full of ornaments I've inherited or been gifted from other family members and friends,  so these pretty crystal beaded ornaments will fit right in I think! I was super impressed with  this compact little kit , which includes everything needed to create three gorgeous vintage-style ornaments - just add a pair of round nose pliers (I found mine on Amazon for less than ten bucks).  The instructions had some fabulous tips for newbies like me; for example, it recommended sorting the beads and laying them out in order on a towel or beading mat to prevent them from rolling away. That may seem obvious, but I was totally ready to start beading on my kitchen table without a...
1 comment
Read more

What If I Didn't Add Heels?

Last weekend, I finished the first sock with my Waterlilies yarn , and just for yuks, I tried it on even though it was basically just a tube sock. Much to my surprise, it fit really well, even without a heel. Who knew? So, that got me thinking: what if I just didn't add the heels?  I never thought a tube sock would actually fit nicely, but I genuinely like the fit, so...why spend time to add the heels? As the saying goes, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.... Let's say I decide not to add heels once the second sock is done - there will still be placeholder yarn for the afterthought heels, as you can see above, so should I leave it in and just weave in the ends? Or should I remove it, put the live stitches back on needles and at least graft them together using more of the Waterlilies yarn? I plan on mulling all of this over as I knit the second sock, and I'd love to hear your opinions of what you think would look best (or if you think this whole "n...
3 comments
Read more