This is a simple Fair Isle Cowl pattern you can download for free. I designed to knit for The Woolly Thistle‘s 2022 Colorwork Accessory Knit-a-long. Though this chart has a couple of nine-stitch stretches, it’s a good learning project for catching floats without being overwhelming as most of the other rounds have five or less stitches of one color in a round.
A cowl is a great first project for knitters new to stranded colorwork. There is no shaping to worry about and it’s a fairly quick project. They also make a great “swatch” when trying new yarns or if you want to sample an old favorite on a new needle size as I did here. I usually knit Jamieson and Smith on 2.75mm, but wanted to try 3mm needles. I’m glad I did. I like the fabric very much. I may go a step further and try on 3.25 in another cowl.
It’s been a bit. I know. I am getting very excited about my upcoming trip to Fair Isle in a couple of months. I purchased my plane/ferry tickets a couple of weeks ago. That makes it official and all I can think about since is Fair Isle. I was grateful to have had the opportunity to visit that beautiful place for a day back in 2007. We didn’t get to go the first time we went to Shetland, so we made sure to go the second time and the weather graciously worked in our favor. I don’t think I’ll fully believe it until I’ve been there a few days.
Because all I can think about is Fair Isle, I cast on The Fisherman’s Kep Pattern by Anne Sinclair (the group can be found on Facebook), which is sold to support The George Waterston Memorial Center and Museum on Fair Isle. I dug out a bunch of Jamieson and Smith’s wool from my stash from previous visits to Shetland. I did a black/white chart for the patterning and am winging it as I go. It’s coming out nicely, but there was a section I wasn’t crazy about. That pale blue band with all the sand colored patterning looked like a beacon in a dark night to me. It was driving me nuts.
Didn’t like the so much pale sand in the pale blue band
So I replaced the sand colored stitches in the center row with rose.
I thought I would just duplicate stitch over the center row of the sand color with a rose color I’d used in the brim. It was working, but I didn’t like the way the rose was lifted up off the pattern with the sand yarn under it so I snipped it out and followed the tail of it around to replace it in that row. I’ve made a video to show what I did:
I haven’t been at the looms much since the last post, but I have been weaving here and there on the double width blanket. This week I plan to take the focus off of Fair Isle and back on to my weaving. I should get a lot done if I can just stay off the Shetland webcams! You can see the blanket in the background of the video at least… 🙂
I hope everyone had a wonderful Holiday Season and is ready for the New Year!
Shetland 1997
Both times we visited Shetland I bought a lot of yarn. The first time we went Daniel was a baby, so we brought a duffle bag full of diapers that went back to Germany stuffed with yarn. The second time we went (posts are here, here and here) there were no pretenses…. I brought an empty duffle bag to be stuffed with yarn and it was…. a lot of yarn and two fleeces from Jamieson’s and Smith in Lerwick.
Flying into Fair Isle 2006
With the trip back to Shetland in a few months I decided I wanted to take some of that yarn back in the form of a Shetland Shawl. I finished knitting Elizabeth Zimmermann’s Stonington Shawl a few weeks ago. I almost had a little glitch. I knew I was going to be playing yarn chicken and this time I lost. By a hair. I crossed my fingers and placed an order from Wool Warehouse in the UK and the yarn I needed was here in about a week. I lucked out. Now that the shawl is finished, I can not tell where the yarn purchased 13 years ago and the new yarn changes over. Crazy.
I used the plans from Kate Davies’s blog to build a stretcher. That was the easy part. I’m glad there’s no video of me trying to get the shawl onto the thing. lol. It was like wrestling with a slick pig. Getting that shawl onto that thing was no easy task, but I won. And then the wind hit, took it down and knocked the shawl off of the frame a couple of minutes later. Grrr. It was dry by now, so I got it back on frame, sprayed it with the hose to get it wet again which allowed me to adjust it because it stretched more. It wasn’t perfect, but it served it’s purpose. The lace points are beautiful and the knitting is blocked and set. The difference between before/after blocking is incredible. And let me tell you, those Shetlanders knew what they were doing. It is so light and airy, but incredibly warm and will be so welcome on chilly evenings when I’m staying at Fair Isle Studio.
I finished up the Tencel warp that I wove the set of twill scarves on. Had I known there was only a cowl’s worth left on it, I’d have finished it sooner. I’m getting the looms ready for more weaving to restock the shop. So thankful for all the support and that the shop is almost empty. I have a special project I’m working on for my grandfather first and then I’ll get back to shop weaving next week.
rough sley
ready to thread
beamed
A last minute wool lap throw for my favorite mountain man, my grandfather.
I tied on a few leftover warps that I dyed a few years ago. These bits were leftover from shawls I wove in 2017. I had to wind another warp to fill in as there weren’t enough ends for the 200 thread dummy warp on my Baby Wolf. I chose a pretty blue solid tencel. More pictures on that later.
I want to leave you with one little tip, but it’s a goodie. While I was tying that hand dyed warp on I remembered this handy trick for holding the cross. I’m almost positive I learned it from Weaver’s Craft in my early weaving years. It’s very handy and all weavers have thread on hand. I especially like this trick when I have multiple threads in each cross group. When I wound these warps before dyeing them, I held six threads. They stick together a lot and that spells irritation when holding the cross in your hand or the other ways I usually do. You can see in the photo here that thread is used to hold the cross. At each loom I have a bobbin full of multiple threads that I use for lashing on or whenever I need something strong. That is what I used here.
I should title this the never-ending post. I guess I’m gabby when I haven’t talked for a while. 🙂
I originally put this warp on in November 2018. It was a linen/cotton warp with textured cotton weft for a table runner and place mats for my brother and SIL. I ordered way too much of the textured cotton, so I tied another warp on to the existing warp again. Then I re-sleyed it and tied on a wool warp using a cone of yarn that has been in my stash for eons. Liked that so much that I tied on another wool warp. This time using yarns I dyed back in 2017. I re-sleyed it again to 18 epi to use up some more stash yarns that are a linen blend. It makes great yardage for pillows or tote bags. I liked that so much, I tied on more cotton/linen warp to just play with stash yarns as warp. Honestly, I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve tied onto this warp, but it’s a lot. These are the many lives of this warp:
Don’t get me wrong, Broken Twill is a beautiful, classic weave, but I’m over it. Yesterday I changed the tie up to “plain weave.” Because it’s broken twill, it can’t be a true plain weave. The sett is a little open, but I’ve learned to not judge a fabric until I’ve washed it. I think this will make nice napkins. I’m just weaving it as yardage, with no breaks, until the end of the warp… if there is an end to this warp. With every advance I sigh because I can see there’s a lot left.
A couple of things I wanted to point out… I had my son take some pictures of me changing the tie up so you can see how easy it is to change from the top of the lamms. I posted how I converted my counter march looms to this method here. It literally took about two minutes to change the four shaft twill tie up to a two shaft tie up and my shed was perfect. I didn’t need to tweak it at all after the change. Much easier to sit on my little stool and adjust my tie up. I sit on it with one leg out of the loom and one in and I’m very comfortable while doing so. https://jeanelizabethstudio.com/2019/11/15/top-o-the-lamms-tie-up/
The other thing I wanted to show is the cloth beam. Because I’m weaving with all different sizes of wefts, the width of the cloth changes. Some new weavers may not realize that this can wreak havoc on the tension of your selvedges. If the edge of the “new” cloth is narrower than the “old cloth” on your beam, it’ll be fine because it’s supported. If it’s wider it will cause problems because the extra bit of selvedge has nothing to support it so the edges of your warp will be a different tension. You can remedy this by adding warping stick in so that the whole cloth is supported. I also do this when I have a fat roll of cloth on the cloth beam that feels mushy to me. It just stabilizes everything.
I did a few other odds and end fiber related things lately. We lucked out with weather last weekend while camping at the lake near our house. I always bring an inkle loom with me and enjoy the peace and quiet along with the gorgeous views and wildlife. I’m including the draft for the band I’m weaving here. I don’t usually plan these out. I just wind and if I like it, I draft it so I have it if I ever want to weave it again.
I found out about a weaving shop in Comfort, Texas from a fellow fiber friend on Ravelry. Unfortunately, I found out about the shop because they were closing their doors. I met some Rav friends there and as soon as we walked in the door there was a Kromski Minstrel beaming like a light. In my head I thought, “I do not need four spinning wheels.” Of course I said that about dogs once, too…. My husband talked me into it. He didn’t have to convince me very much, but a little and I caved. I let “him” have “his” way. 🙂 All of my wheels have little baskets on them to hold their oil bottles, so I got to work and wove one for this one as well. I learned this technique in the Weaving Within Reach Book and have now done a couple of bowls in cotton cording and a couple of little baskets like these. I used a pint Ball jar for my shape. You can a watch a video of me weaving the basket on my Instagram.
I’ve been knitting a bit as well. I finished the Bousta Beanie and the Shetland Shawl I was working on. I’ll share a picture of the shawl once I build my stretcher and get it washed, but you can see Chico enjoying it’s warmth while I knit it. That silly little dog comes running as soon as I pick up my needles. That’s all fine and well when I’m knitting a shawl or sweater, but when he doesn’t realize the difference in size and tries to climb under a hat I’m knitting…. well… Right now I’m knitting the Symphony Shawl Kit from Sweet Georgia. The colors are stunning!
Ok… I didn’t exactly lie when I said I haven’t done much knitting, I just forgot
about a pretty big project I did last Fall. The daughter of long time friends that we were stationed with in Germany got married on New Year’s Eve. She asked if I would make a wrap or shawl. Many pictures and Facebook messages back and forth later, we decided on the Love in a Mist Shawl. I knit it with Kidsilk Haze in Cream and crystal beads with silver linings. I also paired up a snowflake broach with it because the Bride wanted a very Wintery theme. You can find all the info on my Ravelry project page.
Funnily enough, her little sister starred here on the blog many, many moons ago back in 2004 when she modeled my Chick Knits Bucket Felted Bucket Hat. Both girls are lovely young ladies now. That’s the great thing about being Military. You stay close to those that have become your family.
This is Noah in a sweater I knit for him before he was born last year. It was while we were buying the house and getting ready to move so I kept ZERO records. I have no idea what pattern I used (anyone recognize it?) or what yarn I used.
Finished the M’gonigle hat for Jeremy. It blocked out beautifully. I hope he loves it because then he’ll want me to knit for him again.
I’m so excited! I swear this Bradford Pear in our front yard was green a couple of days ago. Yesterday when I drove home I noticed it was on fire with color. I can’t tell you what this did for my New England missin’ heart….
I’m happy to report that Blue is with his new family in Washington. He did very well on the flight from Dallas. They have a couple of acres on a lake and there’s a playful lab on the adjoining land that Blue loves to play with. I’ve learned that I am not cut out for fostering rescues. It nearly ripped my heart out to say goodbye to him. I talked to his new owner a couple of days ago and after only a little over a week they just love him and understand what I meant when I said he was really special. Sigh. I love happy endings.
I actually have been knitting a bit. I’m working slowly, but surely, on the M’gonigle hat for Jeremy.  He’s headed to Colorado for a snowboarding trip in a couple of weeks so I need to get it finished and off in the mail to him.
I’ve also been doing some quilting.  This is a table topper kit I bought from Fat Quarter Shop a while back. I still have to add the borders and finish it up.
I’ve been gardening. I still have herbs, broccoli, lettuce, radishes and carrots going if you can believe it. There’s also garlic and fennel that I hope to harvest in the Spring.
And then there’s the bird watching. I can’t believe how many different birds visit our backyard. I have a great book on birds in Texas that I thumb through and then I go to this great website to look up more info. It seems I’m constantly running to grab the camera. Partly to catch them on “film” and partly because I can see them better through the lens. lol. Now that I know about the Cardinals I see them about once a week. I caught this one on our frosty almost 20 degree Saturday morning:
Hello Mr. Carolina Wren. These are adorable:
Not so happy to see a juvenile Sharp-shinned Hawk about a week ago. A little creepy that he’s looking right at me from across the yard. It was so far that I couldn’t even tell til I looked at the pictures on the computer.
A few days later I saw this adult Sharp-shinned Hawk after the little birds that hide in the bushes near a feeder.
I was going to title this post, “Mohair Hell”, but she was worth every swear word I uttered while knitting her… and unknitting her. I did a lot more unknitting than knitting, that’s for sure.
Pattern: Cleopatra from the book Sensual Knits by Yahaira Ferreira
Yarn: Lana Gatto Mohair Royal from Elann
I hated knitting this in mohair, but now that it’s finished and blocked, I LOVE that it’s in mohair. I can not believe how much this yarn softened up after blocking. Love, love, love it.
If I were to knit it again I’d knit both ends to the center and then graft it. I followed the pattern and it’s grafted right after the lace at one end. My neighbors all saw it this morning and assured me that I was crazy when I showed them the “line” where it’s grafted. Are they blind?! lol.
I’m a little late on the report. It’s been a crazy week with the snow storm and all. SPA was greater than I ever imagined. I think women owe it to themselves to get away once in a while. Even though I had a screaming sinus headache the first couple of days I had SUCH a good time. I didn’t realize how much I needed the break until I could take a nap and sleep in til 10:30, do what *I* wanted to do when I wanted to do it and the very best part, being able to share the love of wool with so many other women. I had a great time hanging out with Kim, Kathy, Carole, Terry, Laurie, Martha, Lucia, Manise (who I finally got to meet!), Sharon, Di (and her GORGEOUS wheel) and I got to meet Dave from Merlin Tree who so kindly tried to help me with a wheel I wanted to sell. Like so many others, I had my camera the whole weekend. I have no idea why I didn’t take one picture. I guess I was just having too much fun.
Here’s my loot:
A Forrester spindle.  She spins like a dream. I picked this one to remind me of New England when we move to Texas. The roving is Kim’s (Woolen Rabbit) BFL in “Blues”.Â
Ann Hanson’s Butternut Scarf pattern and Kim’s Alpaca in Chocolate Chambord. YUM!
And evidently I like Kim’s Chocolate Chambord because I bought it in sock yarn the day before. And I had to get something for Dan so I bought Burgandy Bean to make him some socks. I know. Thoughtful huh? The colors are much darker than the photo shows. It’s much more Aggie Maroon than it looks.
