Vite Cowl

I saw this lovely cowl on Meredith's blog and thought it was lovely but I had neither the super chunky wool nor the size 13 needles. I downloaded the pattern and saw it could be made with size 10 needles, which I do have and thought I might buy some super chunky wool the next time I was in a wool shop.

Oddly, enough the opportunity presented itself quicker than I thought and I settled down to start my first knitting pattern from Ravelry. I'd joined the site years ago but thought it was a bit advanced and only for hardcore knitters and not dilettantes like me, obviously I was wrong and it is a fabulous resource.

It definitely knitted up fairly quickly, all told it took me about 6-7hrs but this included using youtube for multiple reminders of the stitches, two false starts because it 'just didn't look right' and a number of row removals and re-knits. I found the first part hard to envisage as it looked really odd but this was due to my inexperience and inability to see the pattern until it emerged. I did find a counter app on my phone essential especially as I was able to tap it instead of lifting a pencil and making a note or tick.

When finished it looked like a big wonky single cable and is quite narrow which means I'm going to be forced to learn how to block a piece of knitting. I will probably need to be careful as the wool is entirely acrylic. I didn't dawdle over my purchase as I was in a hurry. Actually it went along the lines of 'Do you have super chunky wool? Yes, that 's it there. Great I'll take the lilac'. It was only £2.65 a ball so excellent for a trial run and although very it is thick it still feels soft, unless of course I make it crispy with the iron when blocking! 

I don't have a proper finished picture of the cowl yet but in the meantime here is Magic checking the 'pudge-ability' of it.

I would definitely make another as it is fast to make up and I did get quicker as I got familiar with it. I wonder if it might be possible to use a slightly narrower yarn with the size 10 needles to give it more floppiness and I also wonder if it might be possible to do each row twice side by side to get a broader scarf/cowl which could be used as a makeshift hood if the need arises.

Bamboo needles, bampot knitter....!

So how good are the 18pairs of knitting needles for the princely sum of £7 inc P&P...?

They are very light and look like they will handle well. The smallest sizes look a little frail and are super bendy as though they may snap. However, as I've never really knitted in ultra thin wool they'll probably not see much use or I can always use one of my old fine metal needles!

I checked all the sizes were there and that there were no catches on the needles. A few had some irregularities or small bits that might snag on the wool. As bamboo is a natural material I wasn't too bothered by this but a couple of wee swipes of my Leighton Denny crystal nail file did the trick. I used this as it is super fine and is great for nail snags so I reckoned it would work well on the bamboo and better than a traditional nail file. Apparently, from reading around, it seems that the more you use them the oils from your hands 'conditions' the needles. It is nice to know that as they are made from a natural material they will improve with age and use.

Now I'm fully armed with my tools and wool it will probably all be downhill from here as what I really I need is skill, talent and patience.....wonder if you can get some of these on ebay or amazon.....?