Since the dress is in time-out, I had to start knitting something new. Remember that beautiful Lorna’s Laces sock yarn I showed you yesterday? Well, I did a search on Ravelry for the stitch pattern that I’d been thinking of using, and found oodles of designs with the same name, even a popular sock pattern using the exact same stitch. Sigh. Back to the drawing board.

Thus thwarted, I pulled out all my sock yarns, piled them on the bed, and found that I was strongly pulled toward the Shibui in Seaweed. I did a quick dig through a couple of stitch books, and found what I was looking for: an alpine cable design that pops with this yarn. The knit stitches are twisted, which I always have a love/hate relationship with. I love how they look, but for some reason twisting all those stitches makes my hands ache after a while.

I’ve been talking with Classic Elite about contributing a cowl pattern for their weekly newsletter. Remember that secret project I told you briefly about last month? Don’t worry, I barely remember, and I’m the one who wrote about it. I’d intended on submitting the pattern to an online magazine, but forces were against me. So, I thought I’d offer it to Classic Elite. They love it. The only glitch is that I have to re-knit the cowl. In one of their yarns. Drat. (Doesn’t Nicole make a great model?) It’s a good thing the yarn arrived yesterday, so I can alternate between projects to relieve my hands.

The Classic Elite version will be knit in a much thicker yarn, their new Fresco yarn, which arrived yesterday afternoon just in time for me to take it to knit night. They gave me several choices of color, and I picked this lovely one called Ashley Blue. For the life of me I can’t get a good picture of the color of this yarn today. It’s a slightly dusty color, rich, and soft. The yarn is a combination of wool, baby alpaca, and a touch of angora. I can’t wait to knit with it! It’s going to make a cowl that will be fabulous to snuggle into on a cold day.

Oh, and if you thought you recognized that stitch pattern, you’d be right. It’s the same one I’ve been working with this autumn, making everything from socks and mitts, to sweaters. The cowl is called Basket Whip, which is a west coast swing dance move.