gravity of color: lulu cowl

Happy 2014! Instead of  waiting for the  "start as you mean to go on" thing , I got a jump on my resolutions- if you insist on calling them that- in December.  Like, finishing projects.  It has been a march down FO Boulevard, a road that keeps on going.  My other intentions are to put things away as I use them, and keep the kitchen table clear. * Oh yeah , and keep moving** . And do more yoga.  .

One of the finished:  my sister Lulu's cowl, gifted to her last month.A a field trip to the New Britain Museum of American Art, to see the Maruice Sendak exhibit  gave us a chance to shoot it.

Also, gave us this perfect backdrop, an installation entitled The Gravity of Color made entirely of paper and plastic cups , by Lisa Hoke. It's breathtaking in person, so unexpected. I wouldn't normally choose an intensely colored and textured background but we both felt it the minute we saw it.

This cowl is my own design--to the extent that I can say that --I mean,  it's basically granny square stripes in the round, with big picot edges. Lulu dropped by the day I was blocking the last Big Ass Granny blanket and  wanted something granny too, but to wear around her neck at work. Further, she wanted it to be very colorful, in her colors,  to make a conservative blue jacket she'd just bought more handcrafty and artsy/funky looking.

Specific enough?  Anyhoo, she loves it.   And I love when someone loves what I make for them, don't you?  It came out about 6 1/2 " wide (including the edging) and about 72" in circumference. Lulu is even shorter than I am--she's a bit over 5 feet-- if that gives you  some perspective for the photo on top.

I used mostly worsted weight yarns, partial skeins: Cascade 220, Cascade Eco wool,  Brown Sheep Lambs Pride,  Berroco Ultra Alpaca , Berroco Peruvia and  some Aruacania that I seem to never ever ever ever run out of. And finally some handspun that Rebecca Hatcher gave me in a yarn swap.  All told it weighs about 600 grams, which is (I think , I'm a little sketchy at this) is about 1000-1100 yards.

It totally does the job of de-preppifying the blue jacket. Goal met.

Next I hope I'll be show you my finished Shellseeker. I have been wearing it so much that it already looks like a legacy sweater,. You would think a  professional photographer would have someone to help her get a decent sweater shot, wouldn't you? 

Meanwhile will I see you at Vogue Knititng live in NYC on the 17th or 18th? My Friday morning class is getting pretty full (if not full up) but the noon lecture, which is a fun one hour romp through  tips & tricks to your photos, is still open ( unlimited in size).
...and now the footnotes>>>>>>>>>
*keeping my kitchen table clear sounds like a metaphor but I mean it literally. It is in the dead center of the first floor of our house, in an open space, and everyone including me drops stuff on it as they pass by. Drives me nuts.
** Fitbit. My little friend/tyrant.  Recommended.

I am going to start replying to comments in the comments--after all these years, a little change for the new year!