Tag: cables

Quince Quarterly Spring 2021

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If you’re new to Quince Quarterly, take a look at the enrollment info here: https://quinceandco.com/collections/subscription. I’m currently doing the Level 1 subscription, which costs $50 and tends to be a smaller project. So far, all of the Level 1 boxes I’ve received have been hat and mittens.

This quarter’s project is the Isler Hat and Mitts, by Diana Walla (here’s my Ravelry project). Both the hat and the mitts feature a lace and cable panel, with garter ridges on stockinette making up the rest of the stitches. The mitts are worked at 7 sts/in gauge, which nicely defines the cables and lace. The hat is knit at a looser 6 sts/in gauge, which makes for a looser, more open fabric. I used a US 2 needle for the mitts and a US 4 for the hat.

The yarn is the newish Owlet lace weight wool/alpaca blend from Quince and Co. It is available in 4 lovely undyed shades; I got the medium brown Papuan in my box. I really enjoyed working with this yarn. It’s soft to hold and has a nice depth of color from the mix of wool and alpaca fibers. I normally prefer brighter colors, but that isn’t an option for this undyed yarn, and I ended up loving the neutral brown, which will coordinate well with lots of colors in my wardrobe.

There were a few details I particularly liked about this pattern. First, the lace panel does not always have the same number of stitches; it varies by 2-3 stitches as one row has more decreases and the next has more yarn overs. I had in my mind that lace patterns should always keep a consistent number of stitches unless there is overall shaping happening, but clearly that isn’t true! Second, the garter stitch ridges add visual interest to the stockinette sections, and also help with counting rows and pattern repeats! Finally, the thumb gussets on the mitts are worked with a single increase per round, instead of symmetric increases on both sides of the gussets. Maybe this is common, but I hadn’t encountered many patterns with this approach, and I like the way it turned out.

This project is perfect for spring, since the lightweight yarn lends warmth without being too bulky. Unfortunately, I finished these right when it got too warm to wear them where I live! I wish I had started a month earlier. I’m sure they will be nice to have in the fall, though!

Dalleray Cowl

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This lovely cowl (pattern, my Ravelry project) was designed for the limited edition Brooklyn Tweed yarn Ranch 03: Campbell-Hansmire. The yarn was released in March and is already almost sold out. (I got the last skein of Reef when I thought I was going to run out for this project, though I ultimately didn’t need it.) It is a squishy, soft, sport weight merino that is dyed some really fun colors.

Ranch 03 in Sorbet, Fathom, and Reef

The pattern is pretty straightforward, and like all Brooklyn Tweed patterns it includes careful finishing details. It starts from an optional tubular cast on. Right after the cast on rounds, you rearrange the stitches from 1×1 into a 2×2 ribbing arrangement. I found this to be the most challenging part because there were so many stitches on my needle that it was hard to manipulate them.

Next there were a few decrease rounds to get to the number of stitches required for the main pattern. And then the the cables began! I made the smaller size cowl, which repeats the cable pattern 15 times per round. Most rounds of the pattern are pretty easy, but there is a set of rounds where 14 out of every 15 stitches are involved in cables, so it gets a little tight.

Ready for kitchener stitch grafting

You repeat the entire chart only 3 times, and then there are a few increase rounds and a tubular bind off, and you’re done! The tubular bind off is kind of cool; you separate the knit stitches from the purl stitches on two needles, then do kitchener stitch. It matches the look of the tubular cast on well. I had to look at the cable direction to tell the top from the bottom!

It looks great after blocking!

This is a great project if you want to practice cables that are a step up from the most basic. I recommend trying to cable without a cable needle, since all the cables are only 2-3 stitches. It doesn’t work for all cable patterns, but this is a good one for it. This technique speeds up the work since you don’t have to switch between the main needle and the cable needle.

The yarn is delightfully squishy, and this comes through in the finished fabric. I’m glad I chose the smaller size since I prefer to keep my cowl close to my neck. I’ll definitely be adding this to my wardrobe for chilly mornings/evenings. I highly recommend the Ranch 03 yarn – if you can get any!