Lion's Mane Cowl - Finished!

I finished this up on this past Monday, but haven't been able to get a decent picture in natural light until today.  I found errors on rows 75 and 77 and ended up recharting that section of the pattern through to the end, and in the process also expanded the pattern to use all of my yarn.  I didn't quite make it through all of my expanded charts - I ended up jumping to the last 6 rows part way through my expansion, but it all came out fine.  I debated wet blocking because I knew that it would really change the drape and the loft of the finished fabric.  I tried it on before I blocked it and it was a fair bit smaller - the opening for the neck narrower and it stood up.  I like things with a little more drape so I went ahead and dunked it and then just laid it out on the blocking board, moving it to the sweater drying rack (with the open mesh to speed drying) the next day.  I like the way it opens up the lace, and the cables are still there, just not quite as pronounced.  I couldn't resist a quick picture of it laid out on our freshly fallen snow - the first snowfall of the season.

It really shows off the lovely colors.


Pattern:  Lion's Mane Cowl by Amy Loberg
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Sushi Socks in Sunny Side Up
Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm), US 6 (4.0 mm), US 7 (4.5 mm)

Lion's Mane Cowl - Sections Five and Six Done

I worked on this project most of Christmas Day down in Florida.  After I finished up Section 5 I had my step-daughter model it for a quick picture.

When I finished up Section 6, I took a quick shot of it on the hotel bed.

This morning I took a picture on my dress maker dummy (top photo).  At this point I had a decision to make, I knew that I would have a fair bit of yarn left over if I work the pattern as written, almost an entire skein, in fact, and I had to decide how I wanted to add to the existing pattern.  I knew that I wanted to repeat a section of the chart, but the real question was where to work in the repeat.  I could repeat a section that has increases, but then I will have to modify the subsequent charts to account for the extra stitches.  That would also be riskier when it comes to yarn usage, and I would have to do some calculations to make sure that I wouldn't run out.  And after all that effort I might find that what I wanted to do wouldn't work with the yarn amount that I have.  The easiest way to increase the pattern is to repeat rows 85-94, which is probably what I will end up doing.


Pattern:  Lion's Mane Cowl by Amy Loberg
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Sushi Socks in Sunny Side Up
Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm), US 6 (4.0 mm), US 7 (4.5 mm)

Lion's Mane Cowl - Four Sections Done

I finished up the fourth section this afternoon.  The increases have started and I put it on 32 inch circulars.  This section increased the stitch count by 2 stitches per repeat, the next section of the chart increases the stitch count by 14 stitches in each repeat.

Pattern:  Lion's Mane Cowl by Amy Loberg
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Sushi Socks in Sunny Side Up
Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm), US 6 (4.0 mm), US 7 (4.5 mm)

Lion's Mane Cowl - Three Sections Done

I finished up the third section this morning.  You can already see the effect of the increasing needle size, mostly in the increase in the circumference, although you can see it in the stitch size if you look for it.  I think this one will need a gentle blocking to keep the texture.  This next section starts the increases, I will probably put it on a longer cord when I finish the fourth section and before I start the fifth section.  I used up all of my first skein and started on the second skein during this section - the gradiance is subtle so the change is not easily spotted.


Pattern:  Lion's Mane Cowl by Amy Loberg
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Sushi Socks in Sunny Side Up
Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm), US 6 (4.0 mm), US 7 (4.5 mm)

Lion's Mane Cowl - Two Sections Done

I finished up the second section of the chart last night and switched to the US 7 needles.  The switching was easy as I am using my Addi Lace Clicks on this project.  I've already completed a couple of rows of the third section and caked up the second skein.

Pattern:  Lion's Mane Cowl by Amy Loberg
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Sushi Socks in Sunny Side Up
Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm), US 6 (4.0 mm), US 7 (4.5 mm)

Lion's Mane Cowl - One Section Done

Casting on for this project distracted me from my Craftvent Shawl last week.  This is the other project that I am gifting this Christmas - or I should say the original yarn and pattern for this project.  This is the Lion's Mane Cowl also by Amy Loberg.  When I was going through my stash in pursuit of the original yarn - I spotted this gradiance set and realized that it would be perfect for this project.

The colorway is Sunny Side Up and the yarn base is Sushi Socks, which I haven't used in a garment before, although I have used it in the Crochet Block Club.  The yarn is 60% Merino, 30% Bamboo and 10% Nylon.  The chart is all one piece, but when I set it up in knitCompanion I broke it up into sections where the markers shift.  Yes, I am actually using markers on this one.  These are the markers that came with the Jimmy Beans Craftvent Calendar.  The pattern calls for knitting the first 24 chart rows with US 5 and then switching to US 7 needles.  I am switching to US 6 needles after the first 12 chart rows, and will switch to US 7 needles when the pattern calls for.

Pattern:  Lion's Mane Cowl by Amy Loberg
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Sushi Socks in Sunny Side Up
Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm), US 6 (4.0 mm), US 7 (4.5 mm)