As I slowly work my way through the backlog, I'm pleased to introduce yet another cowl pattern, now available on Ravelry and Etsy. This one is called the City Cowl and is made with one ball of Álafoss Lopi and a big-ish 10 mm hook, and uses one of my favourite stitches, Griddle Stitch, to achieve a beautiful texture and drape. It's also simpler than it looks and is suitable for advanced beginners who want to venture a little beyond the basics.
Two-Tone Toque
I just opened a Ravelry pattern store! And I've uploaded my first pattern for sale - the Two-Tone Toque in Álafoss Lopi (what else?).
I made this hat (and a few others just like it) quite some time ago for my Etsy shop - I'm just now finally working on getting some of my patterns written up properly and formatted, and this is the first one I've posted for sale, as a PDF download, for actual money. We'll see how it goes.
I love this pattern because it works up super quickly (very satisfying), and using a larger-than-recommended hook size with this yarn makes it extra soft and light. Lopi can be a bit coarse, so gentle washing and blocking helps to soften it too. The hat is worked top-down using basic stitches, and the scruffy pompom is made without a special pompom maker (although you can use one if you prefer).
Happy making!
Another granny blanket
granny blanket by mariavalles
granny blanket by mariavalles
I'm in stash-busting mode again. This time it's a simple granny square baby blanket that used up nearly all the balls of coloured Lopi I had lying around. I used a 6.5mm hook and basically made a big granny square totaling 15 rounds, then added 10 rounds of single crochet around the edge, alternating 2 rounds of one colour with 1 round each of the next two colours. I did run into trouble with the corners while doing the edging and had to fudge a little - but it's pretty even, if a little rounded at the corners, and I like how the colours look.