Web-Letter, Issue 78 – Princess Striped Warmer Everyone loves a small project—be it a sock, baby sweater, or accessory. It isn’t that we’re in a hurry to get through the knitting quickly—that’s the part we love. No—I think we like small projects—at least, in part—because we get to cast on more frequently. Don’t you love that moment when you have an empty needle and a fresh ball of yarn—and hope? Putting stitches on a needle, no matter the method you use, marks the cycle in the project when we’re still in control. There aren’t yet any errant stitches to disappoint, we haven’t yet turned up with a stitch count that isn’t anywhere in the pattern, and the droopy, pre-blocked shape hanging from the needles doesn’t call into question all our hopes and dreams. So, happily, once again, we bring you another quickie, Cecily Glowik MacDonald’s Princess Striped Warmer. If you’ve run the course on hats and mitts, but aren’t ready for Spring knitting, give this cowl a try. It will provide a few evenings of good knitting. And then you’ll be ready—so soon!—to cast on again.
The Story: This winter I’ve been completely obsessed with cowls of all sizes. I love that there are no ends to flail around when I am running errands and going in and out of stores. If it’s cold out and I have the cowl wrapped twice around my neck, I can pull it up to protect my face and ears from winter winds. Indoors, I can one-handedly undo a wrap and let the cowl hang open around my neck. For this cowl, I wanted something larger and versatile that I could wear, come spring, pulled down over the shoulders of my demin jacket. For yarn,  I knew that CEY Princess would be perfect—it’s soft, yet durable enough to  stand up to pulling and twisting without breaking or pilling. I took a look at the colors in Princess but couldn’t pick just one. So I decided to knit a striped cowl using three colors. I was drawn to the three new colors for Fall ’08 grouped together on the color card—three shades of a vintage rose color. Because I didn’t want the cowl to be too pink, I switched out one of the colors for a neutral—charcoal. I took a ball of each of the 3 rose colors and the charcoal and lined them up in different combinations until I found one that I liked best. Although Charcoal and Cotes du Rhone, the two darkest colors in the cowl, are similar in value, the transition between the two colors is distinct because the gray is heathered and the dark maroon is solid. And the light heathery flecks in the charcoal make the transition to the light pink not such a contrast. To shape the cowl, I added a little ribbing along the edges to keep them flat and pulled-in a bit, and I added larger ribbing in the center stripe for textural interest and a little more shaping. The result is the Princess Striped Warmer. Visit Cecily's blog to see what else she's up to. The Yarns: Princess — 40% merino, 28% viscose, 10% cashmere, 15% nylon, 7% angora Princess was the perfect choice for knitting an accessory that I planned on wearing daily. Princess’s merino, angora, and, cashmere content allow it to knit up into a soft, warm, and lightweight fabric. The added viscose and nylon make it sturdy. The many vibrant colors in the Princess palette make it difficult to pick just one, so I used three! The Stitches: When knitting a stripe pattern in the round, a visible step or “jog” between the stripes shows up at the beginning of a new round where you change colors. Here are a couple methods to help avoid the jog and keep your stripes nice and even. Learn how to avoid a "jog" in circular stripes.	more photos The Pattern: Here is the free downloadable Princess Striped Warmer pattern. If you have difficulty downloading or printing the PDF pattern above, try this: page 1
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