Spinalcat's Crafty Adventures

Today I'm going to go through a bit of my design process for the Merlon Cowl . This design started when I opened up a bag of Rowan Lima at the shop. It's one of those yarns that you can't put down. It is soooo soft and buttery. I bought 2 balls with the vague plan to make some sort of cowl. Something that soft *needs* to be worn around the neck. A huge shortcut in the stitch pattern choosing phase fell into my lap with the arrival of Rowan's Lima Collection book . True to Rowan style, it featured many heavily cabled sweaters. The loveliness of the cabled fabric came as a surprise to me. Lima has an icord-like construction instead of a traditional ply. The yarn is very round, which is very desirable for cables, but I thought the construction would detract from that kind of stitch pattern. As you can see from the designs in the book, that is not the case. From that point, I had a few stitch patterns from a Japanese stitch dictionary that had caught my eye. I ...

The eyelet edging on this cowl made me think of castle towers. A merlon is the solid portion between the slits cut away for the passage of arrows. Rowan Lima is an exquisitely soft alpaca blend. Its i-cord-like construction looks surprisingly wonderful in cables. This cowl is buttery soft, warm despite its eyelet stitch pattern, and has terrific drape. The pattern has instructions for 2 different cowl lengths, and it can also be worn folded over. Ravelry pattern page here . Pattern is $4.50 through my Ravelry pattern store. No Ravelry membership required, payments are processed through Paypal.

Announcing my first pattern for sale in my Ravelry shop, the Sidewinder Hat . Undulating cables sprout from the ribbing and disappear harmoniously into the crown shaping of this unisex design. Merino yarn makes this the ultimate warm and comfortable winter hat! Stitch patterns are given in charts and as written directions. Thanks to Abigail for technical editing. If you're a self-publishing designer, you should hire her. :) Yarn: Mission Falls 1824 Wool, 3 skeins. Available at Yarndogs. Sample shown in color 15 (Putty). Needles: Size US 8 (main), 16" circular + dpns, or 2 circs, or magic loop . Size US 6 (ribbing), 16" circular, or 2 circs, or magic loop. Pattern is delivered instantly as a PDF download. More details can be found on the Ravelry pattern page, but feel free to contact me to ask questions if you are not a Ravelry member. The below purchase link will take you to PayPal and does not require a Ravelry login.