Omissions

You may have had a hunch that this was going on, but I didn't say much about it.  But now the time has come!

It wasn't all just Cousin Wedding Afghan (CWA) and baby mitts here for the past few weeks - there have been other things going on as well that I can now reveal to you!

The Oogys and The Neuros spent some quality time over Skype the other evening, during which we shared many laughs, enjoyed adult beverages, and opened the gifts we'd sent to each other - which included some of this mystery knitting!!

I made not one, but two, Cut the Scrap! cowls with the yarn remaining from the Perfect Blend KAL.  All that was needed was a neutral color for each:

I'd divided the leftovers into two separate colorways, then coordinated with a base color.  (I still have leftovers from all of them!!)  The gray/reddish version went to Neuro, and the purple version went to LW (you might recognize the wedding shawl yarn here; that stuff is the loaves and fishes of yarn - it seems to generate more of itself and never run out, even as I continue to make things with it!).

Before I move on to the next reveal, I wanted to share some thinking I've done recently regarding cowls.

In brief -  I previously had disregarded cowls as an accessory, thinking that they were too limiting - I mean, they're just on or off, and they don't seem to have the sweeping drama of a well-placed scarf or shawl.

But my recent experiences have changed my mind.  First there's the business with the asymmetrical shawls and shawl pins - you can have all kinds of fun with them, and they often end up looking like a loosely draped cowl in the end anyway!

Then there's this pattern - a loosely draped cowl! - and the possibility of a Cowl Cuff (although I suppose these would work with shawls/scarves as well).

Cowl cuffs.  Evidently, all the cool kids are wearing them.  Imagine a giant ear cuff, or a small bracelet, around your cowl, made with leather.  Worn in the front.  It doesn't really have a function, but it does add a great deal of flair.  I made one for Neuro, and she looks absolutely badass.  It's got a leather band and an embedded chain maille motif.  I'll be experimenting with a few more ideas in the coming weeks, so be on the lookout for those!  (I'll also be making more of these cowls - perhaps even one for myself!!)

Speaking of experimenting - 

I also attempted some speckle dyeing.  Instead of mixing the dye powder with water and pouring onto the yarn (or immersing the yarn into it), this technique simply sprinkles the dye powder directly on the prepared yarn (which is wet); it's then wrapped in plastic wrap and microwaved for about 5 minutes (pausing after every 2 minutes), rinsed, and hung to dry.

The secret:  the dye will spread - A LOT.  So if it looks perfect right away, you've already added too much.  That was my first attempt.  I'll show you some pictures later - it still made for some lovely sock yarn, but not what I wanted to give to Neuro.

My second attempt wasn't quite perfect, but it was gift-worthy:

I used a KnitPicks sock blank, so the two skeins are nearly identical to each other, and some of the colors that Neuro had left after our dyeing weekend in May.

Now that the fun is over, I'm back to the CWA and baby mitts.  But - Neuro reminds me that we need a theme for 2020.

How about something like - Innovation/Experimentation/Try Something New or Daring?  Once a month seems too ambitious, but how about - at least every two months?  

Another idea is that we could otherwise start next year's holiday knitting early and have a formal Something A Month - hat, socks, mitts, a Ravelry KAL?

Other ideas??