The Lady's Slipper Cowl

I'm so behind on blogging my projects!  I've been busy going through my stash still and using up what I have.  I've been inspired by Elizabeth Zimmermann and Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (The Yarn Harlot!) to become an independent knitter (at least a bit more than I was).  For Christmas, I was given a gift card to Barnes & Noble as well as some cash, and I invested the gift card and a little of that cash into my knitting library.  It was very much worth it; I feel like I could knit just about anything with any yarn now.  Yes, they may be basic designs (I still need some good stitch dictionaries!), but I don't have to rely on patterns now.  Don't get me wrong; I still love patterns.  But I have the option of striking out on my own now.

After all that, you're probably expecting to see something magnificent and fancy.  Well, this was a simple project, but I really love the end result.  I had this roving to spin:

Isn't it delicious??  Merino, bamboo, and silk, hand painted.  Anyway, I spun it, and then Navajo-plied it (which is a little like crocheting while spinning--you use one strand of yarn to make a three-ply yarn!  It's like magic!).  I had the yarn lying around for a long time--it was almost too beautiful to use.  But I wanted to use it.  There wasn't much.

I decided on a scarf/cowl/fake moebius design.  I played with the yarn, seeing what size needles I should use, what kind of stitch, all that.  I ended up using a fairly big needle (gulp, I can't remember what size now), and garter stitch.  It really enhanced the yarn, the texture of the garter stitch played up the colors and texture of the yarn itself. 

I knit and knit a big long scarf-like thing.  To be honest, that's all it was.  Except when I started, I used a provisional cast-on, so I could take out those stitches at the end, have live stitches, and graft the two ends together to make a loop.  When I did that, I gave the scarf a twist, to give it a little oomph.

Here's the end result:

I love, love, love the way the green, especially, turned out in the garter stitch.  It looks like moss.  It looks alive, living, real.  I don't know how else to say that, and I'm pretty sure it makes me sound weird.  But that's how it looks.  The colors remind me of Lady's Slippers--our state flower, an orchid.

Wearing it is fun, too.  It's really versatile:

Yeah, I know, fancy photo shoot, Erin.  Way to dress up for the occasion. 

I love the way it looks with my black winter jacket, too. 

Over all, a very satisfying project!