Catching up...it feels like the Olympics were just yesterday, and I'm not sure where March went!
This cowl was my Ravellenics design challenge for myself, gathering a medal for Team Hazelknuts. It's knit in Hazel Knits DK Lively, in Portobello and Frost. It's currently in testing, please join us in the RocketBoy Knits Ravelry group if you'd like to hear when the pattern is ready: http://www.ravelry.com/groups/rocketboy-knits-mission-control Part of what made this cowl satisfying was the way it brought together two different phases of my life. Long ago, in a galaxy far, far away, I was a serious student of Russian with plans to be either a translator or high-school Russian teacher. Ironically, it was one of my Russian professors who helped put me on the path I'm on now. She was a former physicist, who admitted to having knit through all of her university lectures. After teaching me a way to cast on that finally stuck with me, she happily allowed me to knit my way through all of her classes. The pattern is still looking for a name - maybe it should be named for her. Eventually, I figured out that I was on the wrong career path, which conveniently coincided with the end of the Cold War and the disappearance of high-school Russian language programs. One thing that really has stuck with me from all those years, however, is an abiding love of Russian folk art, especially in textiles. The stitch pattern here is based on a Russian embroidery pattern that caught my eye. The geometry of it produces a pleasantly rhythmic knitting experience, and the lining gives it enough warmth to keep the Polar Vortex or the legendary Russian winter at bay.
On a totally different note, I saw something fantastic at Emerald City ComiCon! A knitting superhero! Check her out at http://www.theknittrix.com/index.html A second issue is to be released soon...
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