Tina's Handspun Magic Cowl!

Hey guys, It's me Tina, and my new handspun cowl! 

My new cowl is made of yarn I spun during Spinzilla (cough cough winners). I used a hand dyed merino roving made by our friend Meg of Sleep Season Goods. Meg teaches classes and sells her amazing hand dyed yarn and roving at FTC. This colorway is called Sleeping Beauty.

I can't believe it took me so long to cast on with my magical Sleep Season handspun, because it was so fun to knit with! When I finally did cast on, it went so fast. I was overly enthusiastic with each pop of new color. The cowl is a pattern I made up, and only took 400 yards of a sport weight single spun from my 4 ounce Sleep Season braid. The cowl was knit in the round, casting on 250 stitches on size US 10, 40" circulars. Using a larger needle really lets the yarn bloom and drape, showing off all the amazing colors.

I knit this while watching Dexter and it was done in no time which is a good thing, because the last two seasons were really dragging on. When I was almost out of yarn, I skipped to the last episode and started on my garter stitch edging and bound off. The perfect project to show off a beautiful handspun!

Thanks for checking out my new cowl! I love it so.

Delicious Downy Rabbit Fluff Wrapped Around My Neck

I've been knitting a lot of awesome summer sweaters and lace projects lately so I decided to take a break and do some mindless knitting. I couldn't resist the fluffy and oh-so-soft awesomeness of a new yarn we just got in from Schulana - Angora Fashion Print. Angora Fashion Print is a dk weight blend of 80% angora and 20% nylon. This yarn rules for two reasons: fluffy, too-soft-to-handle, cloud-like, angora bunny-cuteness and the fact that it comes in four stunning colors. It was hard to choose, but I finally went with this acid-chartreuse green for my new angora cowl.

The nice people at Skacel were kind enough to write up a quick cowl pattern that uses 2 balls of this downy deliciousness. This cowl is a moebius cowl and it was my first time doing true moebius knitting. I used Cat Bordhi's Moebius Cast On to cast on 180 Moebius stitches on size 7 needles (this cast-on was mind blowing) and then it was just 2x2 ribbing until I was almost out of yarn. If you want to see this moebius cowl knit up in all the different yarns distributed by Skacel, click here!

My cowl is huge and luscious and wraps me in a protective, velvety layer of supple bunny fur. Angora is also a very warm fiber, so I won't be wearing this too much right now, but when winter comes, this feathery-light bunny-cloak is going to be my shield against the cold. You could make an equally delicate and cushy cowl with just one ball of Angora Fashion Print as each ball comes with 123 yards of creamy rabbit fluff.

angora + cauliflower = ♥

Trust me, once you touch this you are going to want to wrap your neck in some brightly-colored, mushy, angel-like bunny hair. Here are the amazing colors that you now must choose between...good luck!

Meet More New Heirloom Patterns: An Army of Caterpillars! Tunisian Heirloom Cowl!

Two new patterns are here from amazing Fancy Folks, Miranda Harp and Cat Stolzenbach! Welcome, Army of Caterpillars by Miranda and Tunisian Heirloom Cowl by Cat!

Army of Caterpillars is Miranda's ode to her favorite lepidopterist, her father the moth scientist. These little realistic caterpillars are inspired by the larvae in the Sphingidae family – hawk moths, sphinx moths and hummingbird moths.

Purl ridges create the segmented abdomens, and knitted bobbles form the tiny legs of these adorable larvae.

Knit one in every size to make your own rainbow of caterpillar friends!

Many of you may know Cat as our resident Tunisian crochet expert and instructor. Her Tunisian Heirloom Cowl pattern is a great pattern for those interested in picking up the technique of Tunisian, or Afghan crochet.

A bit like crochet, a bit like knitting--Tunisian crochet makes a lovely fabric that is the best of both worlds. It is a great craft for the knitter or crocheter who wants to take a step towards the other side.

This cowl uses basic Tunisian stitches combined with a Tunisian cross stitch to make the unique “X” texture. Fancy Tiger Crafts Heirloom Romney yarn provides hearty structure and rustic wooliness to this striped cowl.

We hope you like these patterns as much as we do! Stay tuned for two more coming later this week!

Winterfell Cowl Free Pattern; also Direwolves

Winter is coming... In order to prepare, we have developed a new Game of Thrones inspired knitting pattern to keep your neck warm as you journey to the other side of the Wall. When the winds howl and the snow falls one hundred feet deep you'll be the fairest of Starks.

Winterfell Cowl is made with Fancy Tiger Craft's Heirloom Romney and finished with a leather Jul closure. It knits up as quick as the blink of a dragon's eye in a simple lace pattern and creates a distinctive and noble collar that looks great with leather and fur.

The Jul leather closures come in several shapes of black and brown leather - the perfect finish for all your Game of Thrones accessories. They easily attach to handknits, and are just as easy to remove. This means you can exchange your closures between all your handknits, from cardigans to cowls to shawls. Whether you hail from the North or are Dothraki from Essos, these leather clasps will give you the finest closure in the land.

Direwolves will be drawn to your beauty when you wear the Winterfell Cowl.

This pattern uses only 100 yards of our Heirloom Romney yarn, which means you can get two cowls from just one skein! The rustic Romney sheepswool, shorn from descendants of medieval longwool breeds, makes for a beautiful old-world texture and will keep you warm in the harshest of climes. Download your free copy of Winterfell Cowl here.

Winter is coming. What will you knit?

Thanks to Maya the Direwolf model