How great is it when you find people who share the same interests and passions as you do?  it is like that instant connection and you just feel like “yep, this is perfect!”  I gotta say, it is too funny that I have found a community through knitting (and through the blog and Ravelry) that share such similar interests and hobbies as I do:

Knitters who love hockey?  Knitters who practice yoga?

Ah, life is complete!

After meeting some fabulous yoginis who love knitting last weekend, it was all about meeting hockey fans who knit this weekend!  Many thanks for Judy for spearheading the awesome NHL Sticks n’ Stitches matinee game between the Washington Capitals and the Ottawa Senators! We knit, we cheered (we had so much to cheer about!) and had such a fun time together!  and it is always fun to actually *be* with the people that you talk to so much online!  Amy and I talk all the time through forum posts, emails, and private messages, and now we got to have a whole afternoon together!

(Judy, Jessica and her BF, Kelly, Melissa, me, Amy, and her adorable daughter J)

A full house – surprising on Super Bowl Sunday

The Caps Drumline – entertaining before the game and during the 2nd intermission

[All Game Day Photos Here!]

It was the perfect day for a game!  The weather was downright balmy after the below-freezing temperatures of late and Kris and I got in to the city with time to spare before the game.  We met up with the peeps and headed to our seats where we were highly entertained by both teams – and the final score was 7-4 win by the Caps.  So exciting!  and the Caps’ big star, Alexander Ovechkin definitely put on a show – he got a hat trick!  So much fun!  I hope we can do it again soon – maybe next season?  Even if you have never been to a hockey game before (or know nothing about the sport, the atmosphere is so much fun!  … even when your husband’s beer spills on your coat after you celebrate a magnificent goal… )  And while my #1 team is the Pittsburgh Penguins, I definitely enjoy watching the Caps play – they are my solid second team – and it is wonderful to see them having so much success right now. 

To commemorate the fun Sticks n’ Stitches game, and because I lack any Capitals gear, I decided to cast on for a cowl to wear to the game.  I finished my cowl quickly with the bulky  Chinese yarn that Kimberli gave me back in 2005 – it is a great variegated red and maroon wool and really worked up well in the seed stitch. Simple, easy, and warm.  I love to wear red and black together!

…and then we promptly got home from the hockey game to head to the Super Bowl party – we had time to change the red to black and gold for the Steelers.  Football doesn’t usually hold my attention as well as hockey, but last night’s game was one of the best Super Bowls in recent memory.  So happy with the final results!  What a sporty day!

We traveled to Canada during the height of my recent cowl craze, so naturally, I made the very wearable neckwarmers. I had grand plans to knit many more cowls than I actually did… but I came away with two good ones that I knit, and one beautiful one that was given to me by Ingrid. Good thing too, because there were a few times when I was downright COLD!

I finished the first cowl a few days into our trip. I used two yarns that have lived in the stash for so long that I don’t remember when I get them! This cowl is called the “Keji” Cowl, because I finished it right before we explored the Kejimkujik Seaside Adjunct.

I just cast on with the Classic Elite Montera and the unlabeled mohair yarn and knit it right up, throwing in a few purl rows here and there to make the rolling less apparent. The cowl is warm and wispy, and kept me warm throughout the walk. A few times, when the wind was whipping up around us on the beach, I pulled her right over my ears and had a good bit of insulation. Cowls are so versatile!

After finishing this cowl, I had a few false starts – I wanted to try Nova’s new Birthday Cowl, and I am still planning to do so – but I couldn’t pay enough attention to the pattern… so I stuck with easy stockinette and ribbing. That seemed to work best, as I was already in a highly distracted state (ooh! look at that beach! look at that moose! etc.)

The cowl that Ingrid made for me is so pretty – I just love the muted colors. She gave it to me right before we went on the boat, so I was able to wear it all day! The cowl that I made for her ended up being too big, but she was able to loop it around to have a snuggly neckwarmer.

I started on the second cowl the night after we left Yarmouth, and I worked on it until I finished it toward the end of our trip. I took along several balls of yarn for knitting, among the mix was the Fibre Company Terra that I picked up at MDSW last month. This colorway was called “Green Tea”, and while there is a slight tinge of green, I see much more gray here. So, I found good inspiration for Project Spectrum’s AIR element. I played around with several stitch patterns, and decided on a twin rib variation, really showcasing the yarn. I had two hanks, so I wanted this to be a nice long cowl. By the time I bound off, in the small village of Sherbrooke on the eastern shore, north of Halifax, I knew I had a winner. The yarn was amazing to work with. I have some other Fibre Company yarns in my stash, and I look forward to working with them too.

A classic twin rib that showcases the unique blend of merino, alpaca, and silk. When I posted the first photographs of this cowl, I had interest in a pattern, so I present you with my second cowl “recipe”: Sherbrooke.

[Download PDF here]

[Add to Ravelry Queue]

Some things just never get old. I started knitting cowls early in my knitting career, and more recently, I have been whipping them out left and right. They are perfect for stashbusting, and freeing up the space that one or two skeins take on the stash shelf.

…and with all of the hockey games I have been watching (Penguins are going to the Stanley Cup finals!), I have found the circular cowls to be the perfect knit! I can stashbust and cheer for my team. The newest cowl, however, does not belong to me; rather, it is a belated birthday gift for a very sweet new friend, who I will have the pleasure to meet next week. (But, of course, I had to try it on for size…)

Yarn: Artful Yarns Reality, #2397, 2 balls
Source: Imagiknit, 2006 SanFrancisco trip
Needles: Size US11 (16″) circulars

The yarn is a thick cable construction, and it was nice and smooshy. Perfect for a cowl. In terms of Project Spectrum, I thought that the colors were a perfect melding of fire and earth plus a hot pink stripe. Funny how that one just snuck in there. I was knitting away, not noticing the color striping, and wow, that pink stripe sticks out. I kind of love it though. Hope you like it too, Ing.

Many more cowls on the way. I have a project in mind for the upcoming trip that involves cowls, stashbusting, and Project Spectrum. I don’t want to pressure myself too much, but I think that Nova Scotia’s climate would be the perfect place to showcase some new cowls I am planning. I am not setting a goal, but I think it is quite possible that I could have a cowl for every two days of the trip. Think of the fun photo opportunities! I definitely have some pretty yarns to use for the remainder of the EARTH element, and the beginning of AIR (white, gray, yellow).

PS – Thank you SO much for your wonderful comments about my Minou Wrap. I am thrilled that it turned out so well. I am already thinking about new weaving projects!

Before the big purchases of last weekend, I was making some headway on stashbusting. Two steps forward – twelve steps back. Or something like that. I figured I best start up that little project again, especially to make room for some of the yarn that won’t even fit on the shelf… two less skeins now, thanks to this quickie stashbuster.

Knit with 2 skeins of Noro Shinano is colorway 08. I used a size US11 circular needle (16″). I did a light ruffling effect on either end, and chose to make the reverse stockinette the “right” side because of the color and stitch combination. The cowl is 16 inches (about 40cm) long from end-to-end. I wanted it to be longer to wear bunched up around my neck, and also to have the option to wear it as a headcover. This piece is wonderfully warm. The silk and wool blend is soft to touch, and feels very comfortable around the neck. I think it will definitely be useful for travel, camping out, and daily wear.

This yarn was a Norovember knitalong prize in 2006. Kathy at Minx Knits gave me the choice of this and another Noro yarn, and I immediately chose this one. Noro seemed to cast a spell on me from the first project I knit with it… my Klaralund back in 2005. (I have subsequently made a few projects with the Noro, and the love is still there!) And since all good things must come to an end (at some point), Shinano was discontinued by Noro last year. Of course, it was before I had tasted “the goods”, so now I am wishing that I had known about it sooner. Seeing Erqsome Emmms amazing cardigan in Shinano doesn’t help either. I know that there are still some sellers out there that carry it… I just have no room in the stash! Maybe when I free up some space there will still be some lots available? (I am probably not helping that prospect by blogging about it and letting YOU know how good it is!)

Noro is just such an earthy yarn – you can find flora inside – so I don’t think there is a better match for Project Spectrum Elements. The underlying color of the cowl is a grayish brown, with all of the lovely silky slubs of colors throughout. The cowl was also knit for the Lord Stanley Stashbusting knitalong, during the first two games of the NHL Conference playoffs.

Many thanks for all of your suggestions in the last post! I have some really amazing things on my list for Nova Scotia!

I have a lot to stashbust… many beautiful skeins of yarn that were never really earmarked for a project, so they languish in the stash. Luckily, I have a Ravelry queue a mile long, so it was simply a matter of matching yarns up with projects. And I also have some time to stashbust with all of the playoff hockey I am watching!

I finished this little cowl on Friday night while watching the Penguins/Senators game. I was casting off just as Malone put in the 4th goal that led to the Penguins win! Two balls of yarn that sat in my stash for far too long are now a pretty wearable knit – in appropriately themed colors too, I might add. I used Karabella Aurora 8 and held it together with an unidentified mohair thread (it was in the clearance bin at Springwater last year, and was ballband-less). My intuition tells me, however, that it is Rowan Kidsilk Spray. Size US 8, 16″ circular needles, about 2.5 hours, and now I have a cowl for spring!

…and I followed with a quick second on Saturday night while watching the Montreal/Boston game…

I am loving the new Classic Elite email newsletters with the lovely free patterns! I saw these mitts [Inca Alpaca Fair Isle Mitts] in last month’s newsletter and knew that they would be a great match for some of the skeins in my stash. My mind immediately thought of the earthy quartet of Wool Linen that I picked up at Habu Textiles last spring in NYC. Perfect for Project Spectrum, and a fun colorwork project too! I finished mitt #1, now on to #2!

The yarn has the sturdiness of linen (20%) with the softness of wool (80%). It is a smaller gauge than the pattern calls for, but the mitt fits nice and snug, even though I went down a few needle sizes from the pattern. I had planned to cast on for mitt #2 today during the Washington/Philly game, but I got a little surprise this morning – Kris got tickets for us to actually GO to the game!!! So, I am thinking that colorwork, thousands of people, and the possibility of beer spilling on my knitting, means that it should wait for another game viewing… tomorrow perhaps?

If you wanna join the stashbusting and hockey fun, feel free! Check out the Puck This! group on Ravelry to follow along, and you can even grab the little button I made!

PS – Happy birthday to two special ladies in my life:  my momma and my JennaPinkMonkey~