It's been so long, very long, since I've blogged. Since New Years Day 2012 actually when I planned to take a blogging break. At the time I had no intention of it being away for more than one season. The past couple years have been filled with ups and downs. happy and sad, growing and changing. And now it's seeing the return for my urge to blog. Hello, again. I wonder if there may be someone that visits, I'd appreciate a comment to let me know if you've enjoyed (or not) what I'm sharing again?
The social network of Knit Bloggers has taken a dramatic drop in popularity, yet there's a giant increase in fiber facsination. Summarized beautifully by Sarah Swett, Fiber Artist, "Make stuff. Stay home. Draw. Dress locally. Hand wash. Learn to darn." For me, taking yarn and needles and creating something useful, beautiful, artistic and functional is greatly satisfying. Sustainable living, growing food, cooking and eating well at home, reducing our carbon footprint are all embraced by knitters and crafters with natural fibers. In this high tech world, the creative arts are gaining in appreciation and participation.
A quick update of the past few years here at Casa del Koch: Don and I are now married 26 years and our kids are adults, Ryan now 23 and Nicole 20. We still have our Standard Poodles and but I'm sad to say we had to sell our horses January 2014. My mom passed away last January and with that grief I lost the desire to knit, quilt, spin or create. Things I've done for most of my life. An outing to The Knitters Fair in September brought it back. My mojo. The need and want to play with sticks and string, to indulge in all things wool and fiber. I plan to share my knitting, a bit of whatever I'm crafting, photographing and some recipes along with events and adventures that inspire me here again on my blog. A place to also journal the following of my dreams. Welcome, if you're reading this.
And the knit? MIRA: a simple project in lucious yarn. 2 skeins of Classic Elite "Vail" in soft gray from their Mountain Top Collection. It's a light fingering weight yarn, 70% alpaca for softness giving it a slight halo, 30% bamboo viscose gives it a beautiful luster and drape. The yarn looks like it might be splitty, but it wasn't and behaved beautifully round knit on 5.5mm 24" Addi Turbos. This cowl pattern available free on Ravelry. I tweaked it a tiny bit by adding a small picot on the cast off edge with clear 6mm beads.
It can be worn wrapped around your neck twice or draped like a shawl. Images in this post show the cowl before blocking. With the season now into autumn, my most favourite, this knit will see a lot of wear. It would make a wonderful Christmas gift. A helpful video tutorial on the cast off picot edge is available here by Wendy McDonnell aka Yarn Fairy.
I love the look of layering knits over knits. The cardi is from Mark's Work Wearhouse, picked up during my months of non-knitting.
Thank you for visiting. Be well, tell those you love that you love them and have a great day. Renee
