Winter Woolies. . .

Brrrrrrr, it's turned damp and cold the last few days and I've been pulling out the winter woolies. I'd forgotten all about my Fraxinus cowl, designed by Ysolda Teague and part of her 2016 yarn club.  I knit this several months ago and then put it away and forgot about it. I used a skein from a previous club package - sportweight Swedish wool from Skein Queen specially dyed for this club.  As it was a heavier weight than what the pattern called for, and because I like my cowls quite tight against the neck, I took a chance and knit one third less stitches and it hugs my neck perfectly snug, without being suffocating.  Most importantly, it keeps the wind out; this will be ideal to take hiking in the next few months.

The pattern is quite ingenious.  You don't do any increasing or decreasing of stitches; the shape is caused completely by spreading out the cables as you knit downwards.

Another warm project finished just this weekend was my Tallat sweater, designed by Justyna Lorkowska from the latest issue of Pom Pom Magazine.  Yes, that's a sprinkling of snow you can see in my backyard.

It's a big, bulky type sweater but it is extremely warm, which is just what I was craving.  The yarn is Briggs & Little chunky, in a colourway called Red Heather and I used just under six skeins.  I picked it up during my recent trip to Toronto at Romni Wools.  I LOVE this yarn - it's firm and crisp but with absolutely no itch factor at all and very easy to knit with.  I even spit spliced my ends while knitting the body so I had less to weave in afterwards.  This is the first time I've used Canadian yarn for a garment and I'm thrilled with how it turned out.  Looking at my wardrobe, I've knit far too many cropped sweaters in the past but this feels so much more comfortable to wear and the split hem and collar details (I think), takes the potential frumpiness out of this jumper.  I did omit the thumb hole in the sleeves; I always like to push them up anyways.

Now, a word on the collar.  Even though the yarn is firm and I went down two needles sizes in knitting it, I guessed it would never stay up as nicely as it does in the magazine.  I'm not bothered at all though; I can wear it turned out, or tucked in, and both look and feel fine.

And did I mention how warm this is?  It will definitely be getting lots of wear this winter.