Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Pattern Expansion

When pressed to find the perfect cowl pattern for an upcoming birthday present, I looked and looked to no avail. Everything I found was either too plain, too ornate, too big, or just too expensive. I was saddened. That is, until it occurred to me that there was a large pool of selections that were untapped--that practically any slouchy beret pattern could be altered into a cowl very easily! Suddenly the possibilities seemed endless, and I eventually chose the perfect pattern, Fern Glade.
Here are the details:

Pattern: Fern Glade
Yarn: Fyberspates Scrumptious DK Color RJ1800 (aka purple) - an absolutely amazing blend of silk and merino wool that felt like butter while knitting
Purchased From: K1 Yarns in Edinburgh
Needles: US #6 Addi Turbos
Made For: A special person's birthday
Time to knit: about a month on and off (other WIPs were calling)
Modifications: Most notably, this hat was converted into a cowl with some simple changes. I did one inch of 2x2 ribbing, row 1 of the chart, then repeated rows 2-7 until it was 7” long. Finished with 1 more inch of 2x2 ribbing and bound off-- Easy peasy.
My hope is that this encourages you to get inspiration from pre-existing patterns. If what you're searching for doesn't appear to be in the pattern index, maybe something similar is waiting for you in another form close by!

More FO's to come soon--happy knitting everyone!