cowl season

Oh yes, I'm years behind in this cowl thing.  And so I'm making up for lost time and knitting a few, which has quickly turned into many. It's hard to stop myself from starting a new one every few days.

Luckily the holiday season provides a perfect outlet for this knitting obsession (although those endeavours are currently secret). My favourite free pattern for quick cowls is definitely the Slouchy Cowl. Big needles and bulky yarn make for a fast and warm garment. The purple one above is knit with Malabrigo Chunky which is so soft and squishy (I wear it way more than the red Puffin one I made last winter). Sadie's double moss stitch cowl is a simple, improvised tube, knit with a lovely grey shade of Sublime's Extra Fine Merino DK. Both wearable, both just the tip of the cowl iceberg.

As for reading, I'm running out of Elizabeth Hay options! I finished up Garbo Laughs which again was full of deep, rich characters. The storyline was linear and therefore much easier to follow than Student of Weather. The setting was Ottawa during the ice storm of 1998 and I loved understanding the references without it being from my own backyard. The shared love of old films across 3 generations of characters was pretty magical and I learned a lot about some classics. But in the end it's Hay's characters that stay with me and penetrate my thoughts. Harriet was fascinating and her family and friends no less so. What a set of neighbours to be blessed with! If you're an Elizabeth Hay fan this is another great read.

For an inspiring dose of reading and knitting, check out today's Yarnalong.