Lucy & Ethel Cowl: Drop Dead Easy Knits

It's time to shine a spotlight on the Lucy and Ethel Cowls from Drop Dead Easy Knits. Design by Kirsten Kapur

When we brainstormed a pattern name that referenced two friends that were fun and colorful (as the cowls are) and had slightly different styles (as the cowls do), we leapt on Lucy and Ethel. But we didn't know they knit!!!  And I don't think they are faking it, you can find Lucy knitting on several episodes and sometimes just for the hell of it.  Links to I Love Lucy episodes for your wintertainment* right here

Two simple stitch patterns make up the design.  Like everything in the book, they are simpler than you'd think , and more stylish than you'd expect from a pattern that isn't hard to knit.  Worsted weight**, so they go fast .

The longer style can be loopy, I always think of that one as Lucy.  Or for a quick knit and less volume, the shorter cowl Ethel is a great choice.

The cowls appear in a chapter of patterns we presented as great for knitting in multiples to give as gifts to your friends. We wanted the photos to give off a buddies vibe. You wouldn't know it from this photo, but these two had just met. We had to use the top photo, with the hat hiding the smile, in the book, so that the focus stayed on the knits and not the beautiful happy faces.  I don't think photoshoots need to be dour affairs-- we like to goof around a little while we work.

Just like Ethel and Lucy!
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* I know you may be reading this in Australia or somewhere else southern hemisphere, and it may not be winter where you are....but frankly, it is SO WINTERY here that I can't imagine anything else today. Sorry! I have midwinter January brain.

** The samples shown are in The Fibre Company Knightsbridge yarn, which is lovely llama and silk , but I'd also knit them in Berroco UltraAlpaca--it has some of the same heathery colors and wool/alpaca loft and an insane range of  color options. I just fell down the rabbit hole of choosing...Barley and Cerulean? Zinc and PeaSoup? or GrapefruitMix??? aaaaghhhhhh. What would you choose? 

3 things: about brioche

1)  Two color brioche in the round is now my my mindless knitting. Whaaaaat?  I'm not sure when it happened-- I cast on a wide tube of a cowl in early summer. I left it next to my desk.   I began picking it up during  delays while uploading files or on hold on the phone. 

 I'll be the first to admit my relationship with brioche was fraught.  I wasn't the, um, swiftest to get it, as I explained just a few months ago. Now, it's relaxing and I am addicted. Old dog, new tricks ftw.

2) Brioche is a stitch that really lets you play with  colors, which I'm guessing accounts for the popularity-- the sides reverse, you can switch color prominence.  And, it goes fast, a nice chunky instant gratification. Also?  It eats up yarn at an alarming rate. So when I ran out of the Rose and , um lets call it Dirty Ballerina colored Windham,  leftovers from my last brioche cowl in April,  I put out the bat signal. I (hahahaha) thought I just needed a teeny bit. My dear client and friend, the  crack designer Elizabeth Elliott sent me lime green and a little dark blue left over from designing her Dionisio Cowl,  I like the acid-y lime kick, though its outside my usual palette.  When that wasn't enough,  a kind and well-stashed knitter sent me her leftovers after I sought to buy  partial skeins from a Ravelry forum. Her colors are everything you see from where the marigold starts. I'm loving all these hues together  because I'm a Jill Draper Makes Stuff* fan, and this is like a visit to her studio. Possibly,  Zoe's Rainbow Sweater has affected me on a cellular level. Zoe gives this project both thumbs up. 

3) Did you know there's an other way to knit brioche stitch, if you don't find favor with all the yarnover wrapping, BRK and BRP? It involves knitting or purling into the row below. 

What I find truly amusing about this : Five years ago, I actually designed and still sell a pattern, Decibella, in brioche stitch**, knit in that manner! WHO KNEW? Not me! At the time I thought I'd stumbled upon some sort of faux brioche/fishermans stitch. I even blabbed about it online that way.  I crack myself up!  Just recently I saw a class listing for the "Knit or purl into row under" brioche technique.
Ain't knitting grand?

 I'm going to have leftovers!

* welp, it looks like Jill has just added a whole bunch of really great Windham mini sets to her etsy site, including Dionisio Cowl sets! They weren't there just a couple of weeks ago when I was scouring the internets for just such a thing!  I encourage you to  treat yo'self.  

**I'm thinking I might revisit this pattern and come up with something less super bulky. Maybe with pompoms? Or tassels? I am feeling flamboyant this season!

a Drop Dead Easy Knits video + GIVEAWAY

Presenting our book trailer!
 My co-authors,Kirsten Kapur of Through the Loops and Mary Lou Egan and I could not be more excited that the book we've been working on for the past year  DROP DEAD EASY KNITS will be out in the wild this week.
In the spirit of the book, which is all about enjoyable but smart knitting- things you can knit while sitting around with friends, or in meetings, or on trains, or while watching the sports practices/rehearsals/schoolboard meetings or waits in the carpool pickup that come our way...stylish but not requiring isolation to follow the pattern. 
We present this video with a few of our favorite knitting (and life) tips.
And a peek at some of the 28 wonderful projects in the book.

 GIVEAWAY: a copy of DROP DEAD EASY KNITS

 signed by all 3 of us 

Leave a comment below, by midnight September 22nd,  pacific US time, letting us know which of the tips in the video is your favorite. 

We can't wait to hear from you.  Tips up!

Book Launch 

 Thursday September 22nd at Fibre Space in Old Town Alexandria VA on Thursday evening, 

with classes from all three of us the next day, details here, please join us! Kirsten will be teaching one of my fave projects, the Short Beach Shawl, shown below, and modeled by me in the video. I'll be teaching a Ten Tips & tricks Photo Class , guaranteed fun. Mary Lou will be running a drop in Finger Puppet Bar, so bring your littles, or , um, make some adult puppets happen. We won't judge!

(but sign up soon, these are almost sold out)

november post 13: circular reasoning saves the day

I am only barely scraping by my NaPoBloMo  attempt with a post today,  by the good grace of designer Elizabeth Elliott aka The Cusser Knits  releasing her wonderful new pattern Circular Reasoning.  It's the same geometrics that I love in her Contrariwise hat, but in a cushy cowl,  knit as a tube. 

When I photographed it for her in late August, I went out scouting for a location with no hint of the season...aka an urban plaza that was light on the nature. My good luck to find this bench, thoughtfully painted and then distressed by time and weather, to match the cowl's colorway.

It's  knit in   Spincycle Dyed in the Wool yarn, and it feels pretty amazing. The shifting colorways of the contrast color--well, I'm just going to warn you now that if you click over to their page, it is going  to be hardto leave without a purchase. Don't say I didn't warn you. 
OTOH--your holiday shopping for a knitter you love might get accomplished. Silver lining! One skein for them, one for you!

You can really see how the yarn plays here. The design features both texture and colorwork, which means it'll require some attention but won't be boring.  The stranding and ends all end up inside the tube, so not much to finish. That's a win all around.
Thanks to the brains & beauty of Josephine, my model, who once again made it all look effortless.

november post 6: gyre- and 1 week till Fibre Space

Less than a week till I'm at Fibre Space in Alexandria VA, Nov 12 & 13th 

Thurs evening 6-9 : SmartPhone Photoclass . Not just for knitters, it's a fast, fun, phone photo class.Bring a friend!

Fri 10-5  Photo for Knitters & Makers - Tips, tricks, shooting, editing, critiquing - we'll do it all, click links for both classes' details. Limited spaces left! See you there.

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 Last month, I photographed Gyre by Elizabeth Elliott.  If you love it as much as I do, you'll be glad to know she's got it on sale on Ravelry till November 10th. This is the same person who brought you Contrariwise, by the way. She's good.

It's lined, not some kind of insane double knitting.  There is something so playful-or maybe slightly subversive-about the simple stripes paired with the baroque curlicues. Added bonus- no exposed floats of yarn or ends to weave in. They are hidden between the layers. Gotta love that.

If you want to keep it simple--or lighter weight--the pattern is also written for just the swirly side , no lining. 

In a perfect world, I'd finish my gray sweater and cast on for this tomorrow. I have some dark red and pumpkin-y orange yarn that're begging me to pair them up. What?  Doesn't your yarn talk to you? I've got several skeins that all but scream at me for attention when I walk by them......

Many thanks to Ariana for stepping in and modeling again.





  

FO monster monday

Finished just in time for the cold weather:  Monster Cowl . Started last winter, tucked away when I hadn't finished by spring. I love this chevron stitch, it's gently hypnotic to knit. I was chugging on merrily, when I noticed the pattern suggested stopping to kitchener it at 45", warning of blocking growth. ooops! I was closing in on 50". No worries. I love the size.

Excuse the, ummm, styling, or lack thereof. It was an impromptu photoshoot. Want some details? 
pattern: Monster Cowl by Julia Allen.
yarn: Shepherds Wool from Stone Hedge Fiber Mill in Michigan
needles: US 9
finished size: after blocking, about 54" in length around, and 7.5" wide
notes: so obviously, one edge is going to be nice and neat and the other, the side where you change colors,  is going to have the yarn carried up along it.  I'll fess up to sometimes forgetting to properly wrap the working yarn around the one lying fallow for that row. 
(oh man. I just fell down this grammar rabbit hole and I am still not sure if I used the past tense of lie correctly or if maybe it should have been laying). 
Where was I? 
Oh yeah, my less-than-neat edge. Before blocking, it was messy enough to considering covering with icord all around,  or maybe a row of crochet. Afterwards, it settled in A-OK. Don't you love well behaved yarn?
This was so satisfying to knit that I may cast on for one as a gift for someone I like who admired it repeatedly in that kind of way. I've already cast on for a coordinating hat. Those skeins are generous at 250 yards each.  Not the Monster Hat- that would be too matchy for me --but using the rest of the yarn held double for a bulky hat.
What are you knitting this fine frosty morning? 
(and if it's not frosty where you are? well......)

next saturday in washington dc..and more...

I'll be at  The Knitting Loft in Washington DC teaching a Photography for Knitters class next weekend, April 12th noon-3:30. It feels like a great time to take out the camera and enjoy the world. Come join me, if you're in the VA/MD/DC area. There are a few seats left !

I'm picturing (yes of course that is how I think of things--pictures)  a festive spring day in our nations capital--who isn't ready for that? Also,  it's the 2nd weekend of the Metro DC Yarn Crawl. You could crawl earlier, acquire fun new yarn to shoot, then join us at this shop on Capitol Hill.
It has been a lonnnng winter here--I am really ready to get into some color--on the trees, in the skeins,wherever. What about you?

Fortunately, all my knitting projects right now have some color going on. Like this. It's a cardigan in Berroco Peruvia Pimienta I'm knitting for my friend and neighbor Sarah. She's an amazing artist & sewer, but doesn't knit .  She suggested we swap a sweater for a bespoke dress. Oh yes! I suspect she's going to be sorry, since she chose a pattern and yarn , snip-snap. I'm not nearly so decisive--we were both so ennervated by me choosing a pattern as a starting place for what I want, that we had to put aside choosing fabric for another outing.We chose this one, if you're curious.

 
And my Monster Cowl's  another colorful one   If you follow me on Instagram (I'm @galezucker there, my real non-sheep name) you may have seen this cheery bit of knitting. If you haven't knit any chevrons, I urge you to get something zig zagging underway. It's actually  hard to stop. I'm knitting it with these Shepherd's Wool skeins, lots of yardage, so no need to set limits -I may have to do a hat and mitts too. But maybe different striping sequence, so it's not too matchy matchy. Fashion note: I don't think you can be too chevronny, but you can be too matchy-matchy. 

Geez I am chatty today.  Just a couple more things, sort of random:
•  Look at the beautiful cowl  being raffled on Small Things blog. And enter (or, don't....because then my odds are better at winning...did I say that outloud?)

• I hate to think about the end  of summer, but a heads up that Fiber College, Sept 3-7th this year, has the Gees Bend Quilters coming to teach and talk and demonstrate. It's a mind bending cultural and craftual mix. Fiber College is always a mindbending craftual experience, so this year should really blow the hinges off the joint--if it had hinges I mean.. It is a very special place (my reveiws here and here) and most importantly--the classes listed are starting to sell out already. Consider yourself warned.

• I'm going to TNNA, I just committed.  Indiana!  I'll be  a free agent- not teaching, or booksigning or even with a booth,...just meeting and brainstorming....and I 'm taking appointments if you want to do a small photo shoot there for your patterns or sweaters or yarn or other business.  If you'll be there and want to meet about some other collaboration..I'm all ears. Give me a shout.

alternative

Instead of speaking of the weather, let's go straight down to  speed post. (If you haven't been following, Kay and Ann over at Mason-Dixon Knitting have blazed the form).
First up, a lighter, and even quicker Decibella:
 
Modified from the original pattern, it's knit on size 11 needles, using 1 skein each of Berroco Peruvia Quick in Gris Marengo and Rosa. Cast on 60 inches, and off you go. It's a one day knit, if, say, it is raining on top of the weekend's 38" snowfall and you don't feel like going out. The stitch  never fails to entertain, it is so much easier than brioche, and the stripes reverse themselves on the wrong side. Not that there  is a wrong side... Anyhoo, this is still  voluminous cowl, if you want something even more everyday, I'd say cast on 42 stitches and take it from there. Half-day knit! Times saved for shoveling!

Over on Ravelry there are some nice lighter weight versions too, take a peek.  Although in my experience lately, being able to hide in your cowl has some advantages. 
original version, for comparison sake.

gifting on the 1 trick pony

I had this notion I'd do a series of posts with good gifting ideas all month. Not because I 'm a gifted gifter. But because I get a lot of books sent here for review that you should know about, and I meet a lot of very interesting artists and designers. Who you should also know about.I'll get to them....
. Meanwhile I am just a bit obsessed by Decibella, (more about my pattern in the last post.)  Put together a super quick knit that lets you play with colors, and throw gas on that fire in the form of my dear friend &  knitting hero Kay of Mason Dixon Knitting . She not only cranked a beautiful Decibella herself one night this week (scroll down in that link to view it and read her eloquent description of why the stitch entertains) but has engaged me in  tweaking-the-design alt yarn convos that have utterly blotted out any other gift knitting or blogging ideas. One track mind and all that! Decibellas for all this year! So, tata and toodle-ooo I am off to my LYS to get me a couple of skeins of Malabrigo Rasta, or maybe Peruvia Quick or Misti Alpaca Chunky...all nice substitute for the Cascade Magnum shown here. 
Let me suggest a do-not-miss new book you might want to gift yourself (or another knitter) with: Cast On, Bind Off: 211 Ways to Begin and End Your Knitting By Cap Sease

Yes you read that right, 211. The book is fabulous. It's a MUST HAVE. You may not recognize Cap's name, but you have been knitting her designs from Green Mountain Spinnery for years. The books is spiral bound, so it behaves itself while you reference a well-organized collection of bind offs, cast ons and edges, with clear color photos, and easy-to-follow illustrations of hands executing the steps in each manueuver. It's super useful  for BO's and CO's you may not use often, or that  solve a problem or add a little something extra. Her breadth is mind-boggling.  It is just right for looking up an icord cast on or bind off...which comes  in handy....when you knit a Decibella. (see what I mean? neigh!) 

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Disclaimer:  I shot the author's photo of Cast On, Bind Off, and received a gift of the book. I wouldn't say anything here that wasn't 100% honest in my reviews, though. This book is an essential for your knitting library.

decibella !

 Meet Decibella, a cowl that makes itself heard.

 It's  a chunky, stylish, reversible cowl in a quick-to-knit variation on Shaker Rib. You can probably make one this weekend-it's that easy. Kind of fun, too.

As I mentioned in my last post,  the muse knocked me upside the head to knit a big orange cowl as a prop, in a stitch that seemingly has no official name,  for a photo shoot. Once we finished photographing, I felt like it had potential, so I went ahead and reworked it and wrote her up, and walla! A published pattern.*
I'm particularly happy with the applied icord edge. Why have I never fallen in love with this finish before? I watched Kay Gardiner  icord around a very large  Fussy Cut blanket with mindblowing speed and dedication.  It looked spectacular. Now, I get it.

 

Both the pattern stitch, which uses some K1 below action, and the applied icord are easy to learn, and they elevate the piece to something a little special. Want to try it yourself?
                                                         
I'm itching to make another Decibella this weekend, too, in a lighter weight yarn- maybe a garden variety bulky or even heavy worsted- and maybe do the icord around both the top and bottom edge. ...or it could be worked as a smaller, closer fitting cowl that stands up around your neck ...or maybe use an ombre for one of the two yarns.....

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* the price is 4. ,  it includes plenty of photos and also, how to do the applied icord. Not that you can't find gazillion video tutorials online to do the same thing, umpteen different ways--but sometimes it's nice to have all the info you need on the same pdf/printed pattern. You may not think of me as someone who writes patterns, and it's true I don't publish frequently.  But after co-authoring two craft/knitting books, I've been to the rodeo and even cleaned up the arena after the broncos. If you know what I mean.

welcome to my process (with a query)

It started  simply enough, and it had nothing, nothing I tell you, to do with knitting.
I'm in a photography exhibit early next year, at a lovely gallery, with some respected photographer friends. I wanted to create a new image for the show, to suit a theme. So, I let a bunch of ideas roll around unattended in my brain. Then, just before the deadline ,  inspiration struck. It demanded a large, assertive prop. Nothing felt quite right. At the  very last minute I decided to knit the prop:  a nice loud large cowl.

 

I’ve named it Decibella. A cowl that makes itself heard.

The photo shoot happened, see out take, above. I made my deadline. All's well and good, right?  But then?  I ripped and re-knit the cowl, finetuning, fixing some awkward design elements. Whoosh!  Suddenly it is all about knitting. I figured I'd write up the pattern.  I'd worked out the kinks, it's pretty awesome in its assertiveness. Maybe someone else will want it, too. 

So here's my query:   It seems I used a pattern stitch that doesn’t have a name. At least, not one I can find. It looks brioche-y but I can assure you, it's not.  I thought it was Shaker Rib, but no. Here ‘s the only place online  I can find the exact same stitch, and it's a Craftster.Org post from 2004 in which the  the knitter says she unvented it. So, what is this stitch's name?

I am skeptical there's actually anything new in stitches. That's one of the things I find so cool about knitting. You think you just made a fresh new design in tote bags? Nah. A sister in Greece sitting on a rocky island used the same stitch combo 100 years ago. I know I used a variant of Shaker Rib in the round, that much I can tell you. Check out that link , and if you know what it’s really called,  help me, please.  I’m admittedly a few volumes short of a full stitch library (coughnoBarbaraWalkerTreasurycough) so I'm thinking crowdsourcing might just be the ticket. I'd like to be able to say what stitch I'm telling you to use in the pattern, along with describing how to do it.

I'm looking forward to the answer to this mystery.  And if you also come up empty-handed? Just make up a name. I bet it'll be better than any I've thought of. Two Color Double Half Fishermans Rib anyone?

it's 2011: i'm dipped AND buttered

There's been a certain bagladyish-ness to my presentation when I dressed nice in cold weather.  Black & neutrals vintage-y herringbone tweed coat, red helmet earflap hat, orange  scarf, striped noro blue/purple mitts? yeah.  I'd walk in to a job and catch clients rolling their eyes, wondering why they trusted me with their photo shoot budget. OK, maybe I didn't catch them, but I just know they were thinking that. Can't blame them, I looked one crayon short of the 64 pack. Athough with most of the colors.

No longer. I am now, officially, Put Together. This photo Thursday, thanks to Linda at Knit New Haven as I was on the last few cowl rounds, you can see the needles still in there if you look closely enough. Knit from  2 skeins of Cascade Magnum,  super bulky, super soft 100% wool. What you're looking at is $36. and not a whole lot of time either. That's a lot of put together bang for the buck, no?

details

hat (less than 1 skein of Cascade Magnum, less than 2 hours of knitting)

inspired by  Quick & Easy Ribbed Hat by Laurie Kimmelstiel

needles: us 15

my variations: Cascade Magnum is one bulky mother! I cast on 30 stitches,  did wider bands of reverse stockinette than of stockinette,  added rounds to increase the slouch factor,  with a more gradual decrease than written, ending with reverse stockinette on top.

I'm sparing you the modeled views in which I look more like Hassidic Aunt Chaya than fashionably topped. 

I love this hat .  It is not much of a hair squisher, thanks to the loft, while being very warm Win, win, win.

cowl:  imy intention was a simple cowl in bands of stockinette & reverse stockinette to mimic the hat. I cast on 48 stitches, not paying too much attention until I was well into it, when I saw I'd twisted the join. So, why not? Twisted cowl.  I kind of like it with the twist in front.
Backstory:

Before the cowl I  started  a 4x4 ribbed scarf from the yarn. It was almost done when I left it sitting on a chair. Fatal error .  My lovable new beast Bobo has a taste for one thing , in a house full to the brim of Stuff You Could Chew. That one thing is  wool yarn. 

exhibit a of lovability, boy & his dog 

He doesn't destroy.  It's more like he seeks it, places a whole skein in his mouth and then shakes his bowling-ball sized head, walking and spinning out yarn,  down halls and stairs. I've found whole rooms strewn with saliva soaked unwound skeins*. (are you thanking me for that mental image? You're welcome)

Bad news: Bobo's  big bulldoggy teeth made an impression on the scarf-in-progress. Good news: it was kind of ropey and roll-y,anyway. So I ripped and knit the cowl.

only thing scarcer than yarn sitting out unscathed these days is a squirrel in the yard, 
thanks to this welcoming committee

palisades

Named for those crazy beautiful vertical rock formations along the Hudson. A cushy chunky cowl knit from 1 skein each of Silk Garden Chunky and Misti Alpaca Super Chunky (50/50 alpaca-wool).

My own design, you can download a copy of the pattern for yourself here.

   Free but please consider a donation to help Haiti.

Doctors Without Borders/MSF 

 

The mixed weights, chunky and even chunkier, create  a nice 3 dimensional texture to the fabric, it almost looks woven, especially in the decorative rounds near the top. A great last minute gift. Especially for yourself if the weather has been cold & bitter. Ask me how I know.

It looks good around your head- if you had abundant hair, it'll flow out the top.  I couldn't quite pull it off for the photos, but when I find a model who can, I'll add it in, OK?

 

Fun fact: Silk Garden Chunky is so much softer than it's skinnier Silk Garden kin. I don't know why, but it's true. 

getting gifty, a last minute knit

A  moment of knitting alchemy. A simple pattern + a specific yarn + a deadline = something really wonderful.

 

Destroyed Cowl (Ravelry link,)  in malabrigo worsted, the indescribably hued Pearl Ten

Ironically, I hit this gold when sister Lulu requested something gray for her Chanukah gift. Gray? really gray? we do not normally do gray. She likes the stylish, I figured the infinity scarf, an endless loop that may be doubled as a cowl and is all the rage, would work

A quick knit: a provisional cast on, knit the skein in stockinette until almost out of yarn, drop a few stitches along each edge, kitchener the the ends together. Hold breath while unraveling dropped stitches. Admire the strip of stockinette transformed into a drapey, lovely piece* that shows off the kettle dyed subtlety.

This could easily be the gift you knit over the weekend. Simple enough to socialize while churning through it, and small enough to take along while traveling.

I left Lulu a voicemail warning her: if we don't get together very soon to exchange gifts, she may never get this one. Seriously.

* model disclaimer: self portrait, so not my metier. Just go with me here and believe in the possibility.

Tomorrow on the getting gifty train: what to buy the photographer in your life.