Another Shiny Thing

• Posted on 2 May 2022
• By Anne
• 0

Along comes a new design, and there I go. My determination to finish WIPs has gone up in smoke, fallen victim to the latest shiny thing dangled before my fiber loving eyes.

I was doing really well, finishing projects I'd long ago set aside, many with not much left to do.  I put the finishing touches on a cardigan, buttons and all, completed and blocked my long-on-the-needles Across the Pond, and was nearly to the final shoulder shaping and seaming of my latest endeavor - a summer tank, Ginseng, using the Fibre Co.'s Luma (linen, cotton, merino and silk).  Wouldn't you know it - just as I was on a roll, Andrea Mowry drops a new pattern.  Using one of my favorite yarns - Spincycle's Dyed In the Wool.  And using two brand new colors I've been ogling.  The stars aligned, and I was hopelessly thwarted from my quest to become a responsible knitter (i.e. - completing what I start and not having a plethora of WIPs stashed throughout my home).

What's this captivating new design?  Well, like many of Andrea's patterns, it's a tweak of her earlier released shawl, Inclinations. A stunner that uses a lot of Dream State yarn; 6 skeins to be exact.  I actually have that one cast on as well, sitting on a shelf waiting for some love. This new, latest version is the Inclinations Cowl.  It uses the same stitch - the Half-Fisherman's Stitch.  But is knit with sport weight Dyed In the Wool, and 4 rather than 6 skeins.  In the two new Spincycle colors, "Valley Girl" and "Light Years," this cowl is quite lovely.  A beautiful interplay with aquas, blues, purples, and a touch of gold and pink.  Of course I'm making one.  But let me get into the weeds about this pattern a bit.

First, I should have known something was coming.  We (For Yarn's Sake) got a shipment of DITW with a bunch of those two new colors, and immediately it started flying off the shelves.  Usually that means an Andrea pattern is about to come out.  But after some digging, I couldn't find anything.  Hmm?  "Valley Girl" was especially beautiful - maybe people just really loved the color.  Spincycle does a great job marketing their yarns, too, and had a particularly stunning pile of "Valley Girl" adorning their home page.  Maybe a fluke?  Wrong.  We sold out of "Valley Girl"  the very same day the cowl pattern was released.

OK, now about the pattern.  Half-Fisherman's Rib.  Not full on brioche, but pretty similar.  I've not had a good relationship with the brioche stitch in the past.  Really, REALLY difficult to fix mistakes, and I am known to make mistakes from time to time.  You know, something catches your attention on TV, and there you go, purling instead of knitting, dropping a stitch, . . .  Well, tinking a brioche stitch is no small feat.  In fact, I had to restart the Inclinations Shawl several times, because I couldn't figure out how to unknit the Half-Fisherman's Rib.  Looked on line for a tutorial with no luck - lots of tutorials for full Fisherman's Rib, but not this half version.  Probably why I set the shawl aside.  So why, you ask, would I try it again?  Good question.  I guess I love a challenge, and to learn a new skill. This time I was smarter, though.  I practiced.  I deconstructed.  I stopped mid stitch to see where the string was coming and going.  And voila!  I figured it out.  Pat on the back, Anne.  I now know how to tink Half-Fisherman's Rib.

I started my Inclinations Cowl on my birthday a week ago, and am happy to say I've made only a few boo boos.  In every case, I successfully was able to fix things; even pulled a dropped stitch up several rows.  And I'm loving this new found skill / stitch.  It's so wonderfully squishy.  Watching as the colors play with each other and change is a blast.  Yup, a good outcome from my original distraction.  I just may finish before being drawn in a new knitting direction by the next shiny object.