Kirsten Kapur released her latest design today. It's the Lispenard cowl, and I was lucky to get to test knit this beauty!
It was hard to get good pictures on my manikin this time. The cowl is HUGE, and the buttons, as much as I love them, are heavy, and weigh the light fabric down a little.
I've had these buttons for years, and I think they are perfect for this cowl.
Here are some more specifics:
pattern: Lispenard by Kirsten Kapur
yarn: Wandering Cat Yarns Sophisticat, colorway Steel, 2 skeins (I must say the WCY's Ladies are the best! I didn't have the right yarn in my stash, so I asked them if they could dye me some yarn very quickly. I ordered it on Friday and had the yarn to test knit the next Tuesday! Best customer service ever! I love all kinds of shades of grey and this one's just perfect!)
needles: 3.75mm
size after blocking: 13" x 65"
The yarn is Alpaca/Silk blend, and the best of it's kind I've encountered so far. I love the stitch definition. The pattern is 47 (or was it 48?) repeats long. After I've knit it the 10th time, I knew it by heart, and from then on it was just a matter of knitting it. I made it my goal to knit 10 repeats a day to get it done asap. More then ten repeats would have been torture.
The cowl is knit like a scarf, and buttoned together into a loop. If I were to knit this again, I would only knit the garter ridges at one end, and sew/graft it together, and put some nice buttons on for show only. I did knit the cowl as in the pattern, but I still sewed it shut. One reason was that I only had 4 buttons, but there were 6 button holes.
I love the final cowl though, the yarn is so soft, and shiny, and has nice drape. I LOVE the color, and the buttons, it's just perfect.
One puzzling thing about it though, is how very different Kirsten and I knit. We both used an Alpaca/Silk etc. blend for it.
original:
size: 13" x 61"
needles: 5.5mm
yarn used: 725yds (as in the first version of the pattern)
mine:
size: 13" x 65"
needle: 3.75mm
yarn used: 504.5yds
I used way smaller needles, and less yarn, and it's still bigger than Kirsten's. Oh, and there are over 25,000 stitches in this cowl! (did the math on some scrap paper, and can't remember the exact number)
***
19 comments:
Such a beautiful pattern. I agree with you about the buttons, they are really nice and I would also kitchener stitch the ends together since I like it as a cowl (and would not wear it as a scarf)
Ausgesprochen schön, du verstehst es immer wieder, deine gestrickten Sachen wundervoll zu präsentieren.
Diese Knöpfe und dann noch ein Dirndl dazu, würde wohl ein wenig schwierig sein in Kanada ;-)
liebe Grüße Elfi
The pattern is beautiful. The finished product makes a really nice fashion accessory.
Nina, Myshka, Sasha, Betsy, Lucy, Phoebe and Lily
Grat looking pattern/yarn pair.
This is so beautiful! Wonderful knitting and great choice of yarn ~ love that steel gray color!!!
PS I shudder at the thought of Denny and Simcha together - double the trouble - LOL
It's beautiful! And a a perfect yarn choice if I do say so myself ;)
Beautiful!! Those buttons are definitely perfect for it.
That's a really beautiful cowl!
eta: My word verification is coper. So close to the name of the brown dog...
The pattern is looking good. I have to try something like that? And the buttons are perfect!
it is stunning, I hope that one day I am able to knit like you! Fantastic!
XXX
It's beautiful!!
It's beautiful, the pattern is so nice and the colour perfect. The buttons are just right!! That's an awful lot of stitches!!
so so beautiful. Beautiful pattern, beautiful wool, beautiful photos. Another of those 'exquisite' ones.
It's beautiful and I want it, but there is now way in this world I would be able to convince myself to finish what is basically a scarf . . . ugh, I hate the repetitiveness of it.
Lovely pattern, buttons and test knitter! It is absolutely beautiful!
Monika,einfach schön was du wieder gestrickt hast und die Knöpfe sind der Hammer dazu...ein bisschen Heimat in Kanada.
Liebe Grüße Herta
Really pretty. I like your idea about doing the Kitchener stitch.
Sieht gut aus!
Und wäre würdig gewesen, als Halsschmuck beim Opernball getragen zu werden .. ;-)
LG Elena
I am doing some major damage to my queue by reading your blog this evening. :) This cowl is GORGEOUS. Must knit it. NOW.
Post a Comment