Another Project Finished

Posted on August 7, 2025 by Deborah Cooke

I showed you this scarf and mittens in progress last month in this post about Comfort Knitting. The project started with a bag of mill ends from Spinrite of Patons Rumor, a long discontinued yarn. Here it is on Ravelry. It’s a bulky weight yarn that’s mostly acrylic but also is 15% alpaca, which makes it very soft and a bit fuzzy.

This colourway, which is a light purple, is called Hibiscus Heather. This was the picture I showed you last month of the mittens and part of the scarf.

Mittens and scarf knit by Deborah Cooke in Patons Rumor

The mittens are from the Tin Can Knits’ World’s Simplest Mittens pattern. (That’s a Ravelry link.) If you don’t have a basic mitten pattern, this is a really good one – and it’s free! It includes instructions for four sizes of mitten, each in four different weights of yarn. I used the chunky instructions for an adult small.

The scarf is a design I made up as I worked. It ended up with nine diamonds – mostly because I mucked up the fifth one and made it a bit smaller by accident. It thus became a midpoint design element. 🙂

Here’s the completed scarf.

scarf knit by Deborah Cooke in Patons Rumor, no pattern

I think it could do with a blocking. The edges are very curly.

Rowan Gypsy hat designed by Grace Melville and knit it Rowan Cocoon from Rowan 48

I have enough yarn left for a hat, but I tend to dislike knitted hats. I had a sift through my library on Ravelry (I love that search engine!) and found a possibility – it’s Gypsy from Rowan 48, a seed stitch hat with a cable trim. (That’s a Ravelry link.) I like the brim on this one. The pattern specifies Rowan Cocoon, which is similar in weight to Patons Rumor, so I’ll give it a try. It’s a hat, though, so I’ll probably have to knit, frog and reknit at least once.

Of course, now I’m flipping through Rowan 48 and being distracted by other designs. 🙂

Comfort Knitting

Posted on July 18, 2025 by Deborah Cooke

As mentioned last week, I’ve been doing some comfort knitting. Besides making clothes for the girls, this usually means knitting socks and/or mittens. I also sorted some stash and rehomed a bunch of it, which meant I rediscovered some goodies, too.

The mittens are from one of these rediscoveries. They started with a bag of mill ends from Spinrite of Patons Rumor, a long discontinued yarn. Here it is on Ravelry. It’s a bulky weight yarn that’s mostly acrylic but also is 15% alpaca, which makes it very soft and a bit fuzzy.

This colourway, which is a light purple, is called Hibiscus Heather.

I first made a pair of mittens for myself, using the Tin Can Knits’ World’s Simplest Mittens pattern. (That’s a Ravelry link.) If you don’t have a basic mitten pattern, this is a really good one – and it’s free! It includes instructions for four sizes of mitten, each in four different weights of yarn. I used the chunky instructions for an adult small.

I also cast on a scarf for myself to match and am just making it up as I go. I’m really enjoying this knitting – it’s the combination of the yarn, which feels nice, and the Brittany birch needles, which I always love to use. This is about the midpoint. I’ll make nine diamonds, then taper down to the other point. Will it need a tassel on each end? Possibly…

Noro Entrelac Scarf

Posted on October 11, 2023 by Deborah Cooke

My TV knitting has been an entrelac scarf in Noro Silver Thaw. I found three skeins of this yarn at the thrift store, and couldn’t just leave it there. (It’s Noro!)

Noro Silver Thaw is an aran-weight and a single ply yarn with a gratual colour change over the length of the yarn. (That’s a Ravelry link.) It’s also discontinued. This is colourway #11 which is not as bright as many Noro colourways. The Mister really liked it.

I’ve wanted to knit an entrelac scarf for a while. I found this free pattern on Ravelry. I used a 4.5MM needle instead of the 5mm recommended because I preferred the look of the finished fabric.

Here’s the scarf:

Entrelac Scarf knit in Noro Silver Thaw by Deborah Cooke

The finished size is 67″ x 9″ unblocked. I kind of like the texture of it as it is and don’t plan to block it. (It would get flatter, wider and longer if I did.)

This is great for a long thinner scarf and the Mister is happy with it. If I made one for myself, I’d add another square to the width of the scarf and probably make it shorter. I tend to fold the ends of my scarf over my chest beneath my coat.

Green Bouclé Scarf

Posted on April 5, 2023 by Deborah Cooke

A few weeks ago, I decided to take apart a sweater that I’ve never worn, one knitted some thirty years ago. The post about that was The Turquoise Pullover.

Here’s the first repurposing of the yarn.

Scarf knit from green bouclé handspun wool/mohair blend by Deborah Cooke

I took all the bouclé and knit a scarf in garter stitch. This isn’t a fancy or complicated project, but the garter stitch—and the larger needles—really show off the yarn, I think. You can see all the colours at this looser gauge.

It’s about 10″ wide and 54″ long, and used every inch of the yarn – I just wove in the ends until they vanished and carried on. Where the yarn was thin, I doubled it up, which diminished the thick-and-thiness of it a bit. You can see that there’s inconsistency but this isn’t a reflection of the spinner’s skill – when I frogged this yarn, the loose single ply structure worked against me and this yarn pulled out to be thinner. I tried to be careful, but the yarn’s consistency still suffered. You can see that the boules were stretched out to the vanishing point in some places.

The uneven texture makes it look like a first project to me, which is kind of funny. Why? Because the needles were wooden ones, actually the ones my grandmother gave me when she taught me to knit. I was four. They’re bigger than 6.0mm and smaller than 6.5mm, so maybe someone made them for her. I like the patina on them and the memories they stir up.

Come to think of it, she taught me to knit with a pink yarn that was slightly thick and thin. I knit a scarf for one of my dolls that was about four inches wide, if memory serves, in garter stitch.

For this one, I cast on and cast off with the coordinating silk blend to make a neater edge, and did a couple of rows at each end in garter stitch with that yarn.

It’s a very thick and warm scarf, but not too long. Crossed in front, it covers my neck right up to my chin. It’ll be perfect under a coat next winter. I thought about a fringe or tassels in the contrasting yarn, but it’s all kinky from being frogged right now. I’ll see how much of it is left after I finish the cowl and may embellish this scarf then.

Rainbow Cowl

Posted on November 16, 2022 by Deborah Cooke

Last summer, I showed you a cowl that I knit of a self-striping yarn called Lionbrand Scarfie, using the Ups-and-Down Cowl pattern from Yarnspirations. (That’s a Ravelry link.) I liked it but the yarn wasn’t exactly what I had in mind when I was shopping. Of course, I found exactly what I’d been looking for after the first one was knitted up.

Here’s my second attempt at this pattern:

This one is knit of Caron Cakes in Rainbow Sprinkles. (That’s another Ravelry link, since MIchaels doesn’t have the yarn on their website anymore.)

I finished it up once at the specified length, but the ribbing wasn’t symmetrical – I wanted it all in the turquoise, framing the other colours in the cable pattern.

Rainbow Cowl, Ups-and-Downs Cowl knit by Deborah Cooke in Caron Cakes Sprinkles

So, I frogged it back and reknit the last bit.

I didn’t shown it to you sooner because I was waiting on one last toggle – Fabricland had five but I needed six. I bought the sixth when they restocked and now it’s done!

Ups-and-Down Cowl

Posted on August 3, 2022 by Deborah Cooke

I just finished this cowl, in time for fall!

The pattern is free from Yarnspirations and you can download it from their site here. It’s also listed on Ravelry right here. The specified yarn is Red Heart Boutique Treasure, which is discontinued. Here’s the Ravelry page for the yarn and you can see that it’s a two-ply yarn with a slow gradation of colours and made of acrylic. I used a yarn from Lionbrand called Scarfie in the Charcoal/Aqua colourway. It’s not listed on the manufacturer website anymore, so here’s a Ravelry link.

What I liked about this cowl is the buttons. I find cowls are great outside, but then too warm if I step into a shop or get in the car. This one gives you the option of unfastening a bit of it without taking it off.

And here’s the finished cowl:

Ups and Down Cowl knit by Deborah Cooke in Lionbrand Scarfie

I used 5mm needles because I liked the look on the knitting better on that size, but that also meant that I used a lot less yarn. (a LOT less. Maybe the yardage is wrong on the pattern.) This one took 140g, leaving 10g from one ball of yarn. That’s just 265m and the pattern says you need three balls of yarn with 138m in each.

What’s funny is that I don’t love the buttons so much now that it’s done. They don’t seem to make a lot of difference, since the cowl gapes open at the throat anyway. So, I’ve cast on another one in Caron Cakes in the colourway Rainbow Sprinkles, modifying it to be worked in the round. I’ll knit this one on 6mm needles and see how that affects the yardage. I kind of want to use the whole ball to get through the entire gradation, but it’s 350m.

Interestingly, this yarn has vanished from the Michaels website, which is where I bought it. Seems like everything gets discontinued these days before I even find it!

I’ll show you that one when it’s done.

Finished Shawl

Posted on March 16, 2022 by Deborah Cooke

I finished my shawl, knit from the Rowan subscribers’ kit! I told you about this in December when I cast it on. Here it is on the blocking needles:

Lace Scarf by Sarah Hatton knit in Rowan Pure Wool 4ply by Deborah Cooke

It’s BIG! It blocked out to 18″ by 83″, with ten repeats. I used up all but 10g of the wool.

Here’s a detail image on the blocking needles:

The colour of the yarn is a greyed blue, quite pretty. It looks more grey here and more blue in the first post. In reality, it’s in between.

The shawl is supposed to be knit in a circle, with the ends grafted together, but I knew I’d wrestle with wearing that. Instead, I knit 6 rows of garter stitch at the beginning and at the end. I also increased the selvedge stitches from two stitches to three. I would have liked to have done another repeat of the first motif at the end – this second picture actually shows the cast-off end – to make it more symmetrical but there wasn’t enough yarn. I could have added a repeat of the second motif at the beginning if I’d thought of it then, but we’re going to go with asymmetry at this point.

My Ravelry project page is here.

I found this a nice knit, although it got to be quite a pile in my lap by the end. The lace stitches were easy although I didn’t quite memorize them, and the wool showed them off well.

It’s interesting that the shadow in the snow makes the picture look blurred. The colour is more true in this shot. I’m hoping this will be the last chance for a while to toss a project in the snow for pictures.

On to the next project waiting to be finished!

Cupido Cowl in Colourspun

Posted on November 18, 2020 by Deborah Cooke

When I finish a knitting project, I often think about using up all the leftover yarn, rather than returning it to the stash. I finished my Wilhelmina reindeer cardigan (that link goes to my blog post) in Rowan Colourspun (that link goes to Ravelry, since the yarn is discontinued) this fall and have quite a few balls of that yarn leftover. I also have some left from the mister’s Skye vest (blog post link), even after making my own Comfort Fade cardigan (blog post link). I’ve made a pullover out of Colourspun too and, while I don’t like the fit of the body so much, I love its big squishy collar. That made me think of cowls.

The Cupido Cowl pattern is free on Ravelry and that’s a Ravelry link. There are several thousand projects, so there’s a lot of eye candy to explore. (Four of them were worked in Colourspun, too.) Although it calls for aran weight yarn, it’s the kind of pattern that can be worked in any yarn. I liked the appearance of the pattern stitch, and the directions by another Raveller for making it in two colours (see my Ravelry project page for the link) so cast on. Because Rowan Colourspun is a DK weight yarn, my cowl will be smaller in diameter and I’ll have to work more repeats to get the depth of the cowl shown. How much shorter? How many more rows? There was only one way to find out.

I cast on with the red (Appletreewick) and used the green (Pen Y Ghent) as the contrast colour. I used 4.5mm needles as that’s one size up from the recommended size for this yarn. I figured that would make a more supple fabric. Colourspun has a slow variegation in each colourway and both of these colourways include similar accent colours. I knew this would blur the distinction between them. Here’s the glorious tweedy-looking result:

Cupido Cowl knit in Rowan Colourspun by Deborah Cooke

The colours do look brighter in the pictures than they appear in real life.

And here’s the finished cowl:

In the end, I worked 9 repeats of the pattern stitch instead of 8 and used about 60g of the red (just over one ball) and 50g of the green (1 ball). I could have made it deeper, but I ran out of Pen Y Ghent. The finished cowl is 7.5″ deep and 42″ around.

Dragon’s Tale Scarf

Posted on March 31, 2017 by Deborah Cooke

I’ve been in a dragon mood lately and here’s the first project to show for it. The Dragon's Tale by Nim Teasdale knit in Noro Silk Garden by Deborah Cooke

Dragon’s Tale is a scarf designed by Nim Teasdale. (That is a Ravelry link.) I knit mine in Noro Silk Garden, because it was in the stash and it had a good dragon-y colour to it. This is much thicker than the specified yarn, but I still used the same size needles. I wanted a dragon of substance! I used two balls of the Noro Silk Garden and am very pleased with the results.

The Dragon's Tale by Nim Teasdale knit in Noro Silk Garden by Deborah Cooke

I love that tail!

He’s been finished for a while, but we needed a bit of sunshine for a picture.

What do you think?

Noro Braided Cowl

Posted on February 19, 2016 by Deborah Cooke

There’s a great cowl in the newest Noro magazine, which I’ve just knitted. The technique is so clever!.

The newest Noro magazine is issue 7 – you can see a preview of the designs on the NoroMagazine website, right here. The pattern is #16 and is called Braided Scarf (that’s a Ravelry link.) It’s supposed to be knit in Noro Silk Garden, but I’ve used Noro Kureopatora – since my yarn is a little lighter, I’ve also dropped the needle size. Mine came out a bit narrower than the one in the magazine – it’s 6 inches wide – but that’s okay by me.

The scarf is knitted with a picot edge on either side and crosswise slits – every so many rows, you cast off the middle stitches, then cast them on again in the next row. Like this, it reminds me of spinach pastries a local bakery made in our old neighbourhood – they slit the top of the pastry like this so it vented. 🙂

Braided Scarf by Jacqueline van Dillen knit in Noro Kureopatera by Deborah Cooke But then, here’s the cool bit. You pull the piece together a bit, turning those strips into loops, and link them together to make a braid down the middle of the cowl. Here it is after it’s braided:Isn’t that brilliant? I keep braiding it and unbraiding it, just to see the magic happen.

I did a provisional cast on, and grafted the cowl into a loop when it was completed to avoid having a seam. I also wanted the braid to be continuous. The instructions say to braid the middle of the finished cowl, then tack down the last loop. I wanted it to hook around the first loop. The only way to do that (which I could see) was to break the loop, like this:

Braided Scarf by Jacqueline van Dillen knit in Noro Kureopatera by Deborah Cooke This is the cowl grafted together – you can see that the colours didn’t match up. (Boo. I had a knot in the ball, otherwise it might have come out perfectly.) I ended with the bright turquoise and had started with the ultramarine blue. The line where they meet is the line of the graft. The first loop, then, is turquoise on the bottom half and ultramarine on the top half. The loop before that, though, is broken. I did this by casting on the stitches in Row 5 of the pattern, then turning, leaving the last 15 stitches of that row on the other needle, unworked. I worked on the front part of the row through Row 11, then left it on the right needle after the cast-on stitches. I worked the intervening rows on those left stitches that had been waiting on me, then finished Row 11. At the end of that repeat (Row 12) I grafted the two edges together.

So, I had a broken loop. When I braided it all up, I tucked that loop around the first loop, then sewed it down from the back, as if it had been joined up all along. The finished braid looks like this:

Braided Scarf by Jacqueline van Dillen knit in Noro Kureopatera by Deborah Cooke No one can ever unbraid it again. 🙂

I’m very happy with this one. What do you think?

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