Three New Cowls ... or Current WIPs and Future Patterns

Somehow, I have quite a few unfinished projects or half-finished patterns lying around - they are in various stages of completion. Three of them are for cowls ...

From top to bottom, they are:

• The cowl on the top was an idea to combine short rows and two color brioche, I finished knitting last year, but somehow I didn't write up the pattern. But I do love the cowl, it's soft and squishy since both textures (brioche and garter stitch) are rather thick. Plus I used very soft yarn (dark purple Wollmeise Merino and speckled white Lanartus Superwash). I've nearly finished writing the pattern, so it will be published soon.
• The middle one is a scrap yarn project - like the Skein Hash Cowl there are always three strands of yarn, that are knitted alternatingly. When you run out of one yarn, just attach your next piece of leftovers. It's a basic chevron pattern, but with some short rows thrown in to make it a bit more interesting. As most of my cowls it is knitted flat - started with a provisional CO and finished by grafting. I used leftovers of different shades of purple, violet and lilac plus white for this one.
• The last one (bottom of the picture) is an attempt to do an intarsia pattern with only one strand of the MC yarn - light blue alpaca in this case. It's combined with squares of Lang Sansibar which makes it look like actual tiles. Unfortunately, I ran out of the light blue yarn (I had 1 and a half skeins left over from another project) and I'm currently debating with myself how to finish it. I could a) keep it really short, b) finish it with the same yarn type (alpaca), but in a different color, c) use another light blue yarn, i.e. a really old leftover that is quite similar in color and weight. Trying to buy a new skein is not an option because the yarn is discontinued. 

Since I'm currently on holiday, there is a real chance that I finish
a) the cowls and
b) writing up the patterns

And if anybody has any naming suggestions for the last two, I'd be glad to hear them.

When It All Goes Pear Shaped

In my part of the world it's getting colder and there's a definite feeling of autumn in the air. That's why I wanted to knit something with an "autumn theme". I had just baked a coconut-milk cake with pears, so I decided that a pea rshaped potholder would be a great idea. It took me about 4 attempts to get the shaping right, i.e. the way I liked it.
These pieces can be used as potholders, hotpads, washcloths or coasters. The construction is similar to my Pumpkin Potholders of last year. It's a combination of short rows and intarsia. Since it is a small piece of knitting, it's great to learn a new technique.

This work by Knitting and so on is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.






Materials

• about 30 grams of Aran weight yarn in two colors - the main color (MC) for the body of the pear and a contrast color (CC) for the contour and the stem
• 4 mm knitting needles
• a tapestry needle to weave in ends

Size and Gauge
The finished piece measures 14 cm at the widest point, 21 cm at the highest point (without the stem)
I counted about 9 stitches for 5 cm in width and about 10 ridges for 5 cm in height.

Techniques and Abbreviations

• Short rows with wrap and turn (w+t) - as shown in this YouTube video by Very Pink Knits.
• Intarsia: Changing colors with the intarsia technique - as shown in this YouTube video by knitwithpat; or this YouTube video by Francoise Danoy. This technique will be used only a few times in this pattern. But it helps to make sure that the WS looks OK as well - see picture below.

• Throughout the pattern, the following notation will be used: "CC (k2); MC (k13, t+p, k12); CC(k2)"   means "knit 2 sts with CC; change to MC and knit 13, do a turn an pull, knit 12 stitches with MC; change back to CC and knit the 2 stitches - i.e. before the brackets the yarn is defined and the instructions are given inside the brackets.
• Please note that for this pattern the last 2 stitches in CC of a row (when they are reached after using the MC - which only happens a few times) are knitted with the tail of that was left over by the long tail CO. That way,  it is not necessary to use a 2nd skein or bobbin in CC - and it also avoids two more ends to weave in :) See photo below. Here, e.g. CCtail (k2, turn, sl1, k1) means "with the tail of CC knit 2 stitches, turn, sl1 and k1". In order to avoid a second skein or bobbin (and two more ends to weave in). You're asked to leave a tail of your CO and knit with it. See photo below.

• Knitted Cast-On: See this Youtube-video by Very Pink Knits - used to craft the pumpkin's stem. 
• kfb: knit front & back - an increase
• ssk: slip slip knit - a left leaning decrease

Instructions

With CC and a long tail CO cast on 56 sts but leave a tail that is about 1m long. This tail called is CCtail and will be used to knit a few stitches at the bottom of the pear).
Knit 1 row in CC

[1] RS CC (sl1, k1), MC (k52, w+t,
   WS k36, w+t
[2] RS k1, ssk, k25, ssk, ssk, k2, w+t,
   WS k45, w+t
[3] RS k1, ssk, k13, ssk, k8, ssk, k11, ssk, k2, w+t,
   WS k37, w+t
[4] RS k1, ssk, k11, ssk, k13, ssk, ssk, k2, w+t,
   WS k18, w+t
[5] RS k1, ssk, k16, ssk, k2, w+t,
   WS k35, w+t
[6] RS k1, ssk, k13, ssk, k12, ssk, k2 w+t,
   WS k24, w+t
[7] RS k12, ssk, k7, ssk, k3) CCtail (k2, turn,
    WS sl1, k1), MC (k34), CC (k2)
[8] RS CC (sl1, k1), MC (k1, ssk, k16, ssk, k8, w+t,
   WS k27, w+t
[9] RS k1, ssk, k26, w+t,
   WS k27, w+t
[10] RS k1, ssk, k15, ssk, k8, w+t,
   WS k27), CC (k2, CO 8 with knitted cast on)
[11] RS CC(k3, kfb, k1, kfb, k2 ktbl, k1), MC (k22, w+t,
   WS k8, w+t
[12] RS k15, CCtail (k2, turn
   WS sl1, k1), MC (k29), CC (k16, kfb, k5)
[13] RS CC (BO11, k2), MC (k19, kfb, k2, w+t,
   WS k16, w+t
[14] RS k17, kfb, k2, w+t,
   WS k24, w+t
[15] RS k1, kfb, k18, k1, w+t,
   WS k17, w+t
[16] RS k2, kfb, k13, kfb, k3, w+t,
   WS k31, w+t

[17] RS k1, kfb, k8, kfb, k13, kfb, k2, w+t,
   WS k32), CC (k2)
[18] RS CC (sl1, k1), MC (k2, kfb, k12, kfb, k10, kfb, k1, w+t,
   WS k16, w+t
[19] RS k2, kfb, k14, kfb, k1, w+t,
   WS k33, w+t
[20] RS k1, kfb, k14, kfb, k16, kfb, k7), CCtail (k2, turn
   WS sl1, k1), MC (k45, w+t
[21] RS k2, kfb, k32, kfb, w+t,
   WS k19, w+t
[22] RS k2, kfb, k17, kfb, kfb, w+t,
   WS k39, w+t
[23] RS k1, kfb, k41, w+t,
   WS k50), CC (k2)
[24] RS CC (sl1, k all
   WS sl1, k all
Bind off in CC.

Once you've finished your pear there will be a small indentation at the bottom of the pear. This can be sewn closed with the tail end of your yarn before weaving in the end.