Iowa State Fair time

Ten Items or Less -- oh wait, that was the name of a children's book that we used to read to the children. This is the pile of knitting that I sent off to the fair. There are actually 10 items in the pile ready to go. Sweaters, afghan, hat, shawls etc.  Wednesday night there is a preview for the entrants.  Last year Ames was flooded on the day of the preview, let's hope that doesn't happen again! 

If you get to the fair don't forget to check out the Fabric and Threads display on the second floor of the Varied Industries Building.

Cowls to keep out the chill

The first thing I have to cover when the weather gets cool is my neck. If I get a draft down my neck, I am cold all over! So I have been making some cowls and scarves to keep myself and others warm.

I started out this summer making a cowl from some beautiful, soft sock yarn called Mini Mochi from Crystal Palace Yarns. I had gotten 2 different colors in this yarn. The first one was greens, golds and dark reds. I made it up in the Willow Cowl pattern which is available as a free pattern on Ravelry.com


Then I took those 2 balls in the background of this first picture and made one for myself. This one is blue, purple and green. Here it is collapsed down on itself like it would on my neck. There is still a needle in the last stitch because I need to hem the top edge. I think it is interesting how when it is collapsed the green is mostly hidden in the folds. But when it is stretched out as in the next picture, the green shows up again. This one is long enough to pull over my head if I need to cover my ears. Click on the pictures for a closer look if you like.

Iowa State Fair

I entered the fair for the first time this year. I have thought about it before but never followed through to get it done. Some of the knitters from the Ames Public Library's Knit and Crochet group were talking about entering so I thought maybe this year should be the year I finally did too. I found that there were lots of categories in knitting. I thought I might be able to enter a few things so I started making a list of what I had and which categories they would fit into. I came up with 15 items!

Click on the picture for a better look.
If you make it to the fair check out the Fiber & Threads, upstairs in the Varied Industries Building.

Cowls

Cowls seem to be a very popular item with knitters on Ravelry at least. I think they are a great idea. They keep your neck warm without the dangling tails of a scarf. I found a pattern there recently that I wanted to try.

This is the Willow Cowl, a free Ravelry download, if you are a member there. If you aren't a member go to ravelry.com and sign up! It's free. Ravelry is a wonderful resource for knitters and crocheters.I used 2 skeins of Mini Mochi a very soft sock weight yarn. This cowl has a nice flare at the bottom so it lays over the shoulders just a bit to fill in that spot that your shirt leaves open to the chill. Each of the lace sections creates a roll that lays down in nice folds. It is long enough to pull up over your ears if needed. I will be giving this one away so those other 2 skeins are blues and purples that are waiting to be made into another of these cowls for me!

I also had an opportunity to test knit a pattern for another designer. This Tabitha Cowl is the result of that. We were trying to find out what it would look like in a variegated yarn. The yarn is hand dyed sock weight yarn from Knitivity.com. Ray dyes some beautiful yarns! Take a look at what he has and if you order something, tell him Denise's Needleworks sent you!As you can see, the cables disappear in the colors but I think it is very pretty anyway. The designer is also working on fingerless mitts and a hat to match. This is another Ravelry pattern. Sorry, there is no other way to get it.

I look happy here modeling it but you wouldn't believe how hot and humid it was when we went outside to take the pictures!!! I'm sure it will feel good in January when the weather is not so warm here!