** ceiling fans, whether on or off.
** his Rock'N'Play sleeper
** bare feet, no matter how hot or cold outside
** sleeping on daddy's legs
** sleeping on mama's chest
** milk. doesn't matter where it comes from, as long as it comes regularly.
** bath time.


** being set down when he wants to be cuddled.
** diaper changes.
** boogers being cleaned out of his eyes.
** onesies being put over his head.
** anything that keeps his hands from constant access to his mouth.



I can't believe it's already been more than a month since Owen was born! He's unintentionally smiling already, gives huge eyes to all manner of new things (carpet on his toes, the wind in his face, kitty kisses and so much more) every single day.

He's still wearing newborn onesies for the most part, but is already out of his newborn footied sleepers - what he lacks in girth he makes up for in length, apparently! We keep saying we want to pick up a scale so we can see how much he weighs; at his last doctor's appointment he was just under 7 lbs, and I'm betting by the time we take him at the end of the month he'll weigh just under 9 lbs if he keeps eating 3oz every two to 3 hours!

We're loving having him in our lives, and already can't imagine life without him!

one month with Owen!

Sep 30, 2011

I keep saying I’m going to tell the story of the day Owen was born, and I keep getting stuck. How do you tell the story of the day your life was changed forever? When I get stuck, I tend to think in terms of lists - times, dates, bullet points and such, and so that’s how I’m going to tell this story!

{our bags, all packed up for the external version just in case I went into labor}

August 23, 8:30am - the external version

Because the bug was still very much breech, we had an external version scheduled for 8:30am this morning. Still a full two weeks before his due date, they wait as long as possible to do versions in case mom goes into labor.

Note to all moms of breech babies - this procedure HURTS! I watched the videos, knew what I was in for, and yet I was shocked by the pain. Every woman feels these things differently, and I’m sure my situation wasn’t helped by my size or the lack of space the bug had inside me.

Approximately 10 minutes of pushing and shoving on my belly later, and Owen wasn’t moving. We sort of figured this would be the case, and so scheduled the c-section for Friday August 26th!

After an unsuccessful version, they monitor you for 30 minutes to an hour to be sure you’re not in labor. Lucky me, I got to eat breakfast while we waited. No contractions, no water breaking, and we were set free to enjoy our day! We set about running a few errands, knowing we were going to be parents in just a few short days!

3:00 pm - after a nap

After our errands, some lunch, and a bit of television, I laid down to take a nap. Having your tummy shoved on and then running a bunch of errands can be exhausting for someone as pregnant as I was! Leaving Zach on the couch, I snuck upstairs around 2pm to take a quick nap.

Around 3pm I woke up and felt …. well. For lack of a better word, I felt like I had leaked. Knowing women sometimes pee a little this late in the pregnancy, I simply headed off to the bathroom and then downstairs to tell Zach what was up. We sat around, but no more leaking so … pee? That’s what we assumed!

By 6pm, I had started feeling a bit strange. Not crampy, no more leaks, just strange, like everything was about to change somehow. But nothing was happening, and after talking a bit we both figured I was just freaking out due to the version. It was time for dinner, so we headed out to Buffalo Wild Wings for a last Tuesday night trivia and wings night.

8pm - heading home early

While we ate, I kept feeling like I had to pee, but then … nothing. After eating, and halfway through the trivia game, I started to feel super strange, like I was about to pee myself again. Zach made a promise to me that if I didn’t feel good, we could head home, and so we did.

In the car, I kept saying I felt weird, like something wasn’t right. Zach asked if I wanted to go to the hospital but I said no. After all, I wasn’t having any labor symptoms and the nurses said I wasn’t in labor after the version. I was overreacting, and I knew it.

Once home, I again told Zach I felt super weird - maybe I was in labor and didn’t know it? He sat next to me on the couch and said, “Your body will tell you when you’re in labor, and it’s not going to be a whisper. It’s going to be loud, and you’ll know for sure when it’s happening.”

In agreement, I asked Zach to pull me up off the couch (because I was that pregnant. Don’t judge.) so I could head upstairs to pee. As he did, I felt a huge whoosh of liquid run out of me and down my legs. “I think my water just broke! Can you tell?!” were the exact words I said, standing there soaked through my pants in disbelief!

Folks, our birthing class teacher told us that when your water breaks, most of the time it’s just a trickle if it even breaks at all. That surprising whoosh of liquid like in the movies almost never happens. And there I was, standing in our family room surprised by the movie-like whoosh of liquid pouring out of me. It was time to have a baby!

{part two, coming soon}

birth story, part one

Sep 29, 2011


After taking a week off from square-making, I'm back with four new squares this week. I've started to dip into some yarn I had set aside for my {finally finished!} stash blanket, so I'm not always sure what the fiber content is. I've set up a Ziploc bag, labelled "unknown fiber content" and am placing these squares in there - that way, when I mail the squares out, Knit-A-Square will know what's up!

What have you all been knitting on lately? Any squares for the Knit-A-Square one million goal? Anything else for charity? My big goal between now and the end of the year is to bring my charity knits number up to 400 - a tall order, but if I keep up with the squares I should be able to make it!

{These are charity knits 282-285/10,000. I'm knitting 10,000 items for charity in my lifetime as part of my Ten Thousand Project.}

knit a squillion: week seven

Sep 28, 2011




pattern: Berry Baby Hat, knit to look like a pumpkin
yarn: I Love This Yarn! by Hobby Lobby - super small amount of brown, 1/10th of a skein of burnt pumpkin
needles: size 8 16" circular, size 8 dpns

He doesn't seem to like it very much, which is fine by me - it's too big for him, and not meant for him anyhow! No mods, other than not casting on with size 7's - the Hobby Lobby yarn is really more of an Aran weight rather than a worsted weight, so the 7's would have been far too tight.

Because the yarn is so thick, this hat turned out larger than the pattern says it will, and thus does not fit Owen. No big deal, as it's meant as a charity donation anyhow! It's super adorable, however - I'd recommend anyone with a child between two months and two years (pattern has mods to make it toddler sized) grab some yarn and cast on immediately!

{This is charity knit 281/10,000. I'm knitting 10,000 items for charity in my lifetime as part of my Ten Thousand Project.}

pumpkin hat for fall

Sep 27, 2011

 

pattern: Berry Baby Hat, knit to look like a pumpkin
yarn: I Love This Yarn! by Hobby Lobby - super small amount of brown, 1/10th of a skein of burnt pumpkin
needles: size 8 16" circular, size 8 dpns

He doesn't seem to like it very much, which is fine by me - it's too big for him, and not meant for him anyhow! No mods, other than not casting on with size 7's - the Hobby Lobby yarn is really more of an Aran weight rather than a worsted weight, so the 7's would have been far too tight.

Because the yarn is so thick, this hat turned out larger than the pattern says it will, and thus does not fit Owen. No big deal, as it's meant as a charity donation anyhow! It's super adorable, however - I'd recommend anyone with a child between two months and two years (pattern has mods to make it toddler sized) grab some yarn and cast on immediately!

{This is charity knit 281/10,000. I'm knitting 10,000 items for charity in my lifetime as part of my Ten Thousand Project.}

pumpkin hat for fall

Have you heard of The Shine Project yet?


Through her blog Ashley aims to help as many people shine as possible - changing the world and doing good around the world. After deciding that she didn't need to choose just one thing to do or be, Ashley has made it her personal mission to help folks SHINE by doing all the things they're passionate about and want to do with their lives!



To add to her amazingness, Ashley is raising money to help inner city kids head off to college once they graduate from high school! Her Shine Project Scholarship Fund is raising money by asking folks to collect their change in her Change For Change drive, as well as receiving a dollar donation from every Shine Necklace she sells from her shop.

I'm lucky enough to have one of her necklaces, and ever since it arrived in the mail I've hated taking it off. I love the reminder to SHINE in my daily life, whether it's snuggling my little Owen bug, knitting for charity, or even doing the dishes. We all have the chance to do good in the world with every moment of our lives, and wearing my  Shine Necklace reminds me of that!

Head on over to Ashley's blog and check out what she's doing ... I promise you'll be hooked on her positivity!

introducing: The Shine Project!

Sep 26, 2011


Just in time for the holidays I've decided to run a blog sponsorship special here at Minimalist Knitter - one free month of sponsorship for new sponsors!

Interested in testing out sponsorship on Minimalist Knitter, but not sure if you want to make the financial commitment?  For October and November, I'm offering up one free month of sponsorship to new potential sponsors! You'll get all the benefits of sponsorship without the cost, so you can truly test it out and see if sponsorship is right for you.


And with the holidays fast approaching, sponsoring Minimalist Knitter is a great way to get some new readers to your blog and potential customers to your shop, just in time for holiday shopping!

If this sounds like something you'd be interested in, e-mail me at rmcdevine@gmail.com for more details and to get signed up!

Sponsorship Special for October and November!

Sep 25, 2011


Owen is quite a snuggly little baby, which is wonderful most days. But some nights (like Wednesday night, for example) he needs to be held a lot. Like, all night a lot. He'll fall asleep in my arms, but as soon as I put him down he freaks out, wakes himself up, and cries until he is picked back up.

Some folks would say this is the time to start sleep training him, to let him "cry it out". But he is just one month old, has no idea about anything, and will all too quickly not be a snuggle bug anymore.

So we dance. Back and forth around the first floor so we don't keep Zach awake all night with us, watching Netflix Instant and talking. I tell him stories about our days before him, my hopes and dreams for him, and remind him over and over just how much I love him.

And when he finally does lay down on his own without waking himself up, or on the nights when he doesn't need to be danced around, I find myself bouncing around as I walk, missing these snuggly times.

how i spend my nights

Sep 23, 2011



taking a few days off to get used to hanging around with Owen, just the two of us. back soon!

...

Sep 21, 2011



taking a few days off to get used to hanging around with Owen, just the two of us. back soon!

...

i announced the winner of the Chocolate Mints in a Jar giveaway late last week, but haven't heard from the winner yet ... re-posting it here just in case.

the winner is:

flora said...
I love the market bag pattern! Hope you and baby are doing well!
 Flora, shoot me an e-mail to rmcdevine(at)gmail(dot)com to claim your prize!
 

giveaway winner

Sep 20, 2011

What a fun month September has been - we brought Owen into our home at the end of August, and many of these amazing sponsors helped me out by offering up guest posts for the end of August and beginning of September! They've had shop updates, hosted giveaways, and so much more ... join me in giving them a bit of love, won't you?!



Hi there, I'm Katie of Je suis une monstre, and I love making things!  Currently, I am a UK knitwear designer and produce all my pieces myself, by hand.  I love working with beautiful fibres and yarns, and coming up with delicious colour palettes.

I am dedicated to the highest quality of materials and craftswomanship in all my work.  Je suis une monstre is my space to write and ponder on Arts & Crafts, Handmade and DIY.  You can also read about my new ideas, designs, creations, and small triumphs in my 'impossible task' of setting up my own One-Woman Arts & Crafts Micro-business.  You are all very welcome to come and join in my adventures! xxx





Ashley Daoust is a freelance word worker who loves helping individuals and small businesses polish their words. She offers a wide range of editorial and audio transcription services, which you can learn about at her website. If you've got something that could use an extra eye - the book you're writing late at night, that 'Life on Mars' project proposal you're about to send to NASA, a super-awesome blog you're building, or the grant that will give your nonprofit the traction it needs - Ashley is your gal.

And for you knitting-minded designers out there, she's unveiling a new and exciting service - pattern tech editing! If you'd like to learn more about the pattern editing, or about any of her other services, you can contact her at ashley@adeditorial.com.

When she's not busy with all the word stuff, you can usually find her (secretly) reading the book on her husband's night stand, humoring the many whims of the border collie, pulling for the Tar Heels, and/or knitting something for her little family's next generation, which is set to begin right around Christmas!



My name is Casey Wiegand, I am a freelance artist, wife and mama. I love painting and sharing our life through my blog...where you can expect pieces of my perspective on life, faith, kids, marriage, with touches of art, creative inspiration, projects and things I love along the way. I have two little ones in the hopes of lots more and am married to the love of my life!

BLOG | TWITTER | FACEBOOK




Hi All! My name is Jane Richmond and I design knitwear. My knitting patterns are meant to be fun to knit and wear. In knitting, the process is just as important as the end result.

My design aesthetic is simple and classic, I don’t believe that knitting needs to be complicated in order to be beautiful. Many of my patterns are excellent choices for new or beginner knitters because of their simplicity and readability.










Elise runs a blog where she shares craft tutorials and stories about her life in San Diego, CA. She has an online shop that sells handmade books, prints & posters and teaches online workshops.

















Hi there — my name is Maggie Whitley and I’m the owner/designer of Gussy Sews. I spend equal time working on my blog and my shop.

On my blog you’ll find updates on my handmade shop, tips on how I left my day job 1 year ago to focus on my business, and different prompts/projects that help build a handmade community of inspiration & adventuring.

 Interested in what fills the “shelves” of my shop? All sorts of sassy, girlie, colorful accessories: tote bags (3 different sizes), zipped pouches, eReader cases, headbands + more! — all sporting my signature ruffle.



I'm Megan Hunt and I am the owner and founder of Princess Lasertron and a bridal designer, blogger, and best friend. Since I started my business in 2005, we have grown to a three-person company and work with over 250 brides each year. We began with simple hairpieces and brooches and have expanded into dresses, bouquets, craft kits, and our brand has reached hundreds of thousands through magazines, television, and online media.
I live in Omaha which I LOVE, and it's my favorite city in the world! What I love most about my job is meeting and collaborating with passionate dreamers, speaking and teaching to other awesome creative people, and being able to take my 1-year-old daughter, Alice, to work every day.
On my website I talk a lot about my business and the custom work we create for our clients, but I also offer readers a peek into my personal life. My husband comes in for the occasional guest post, I share the trials and successes of being a new mom and figuring out how to blend my career with my family, and there are lots of fashion posts and DIY tutorials in between. I love writing and I love you for reading!



Hello,  my name is Lucy (a.k.a. a black pepper) and I design, knit and wear my  own handknits. My website "ablackpepper" is where most of my knit  designs are featured and shared with the online audience.

The  focus of my designs is mostly for myself, and my design philosophy is  simple; only design and knit what I would wear (and do wear!). However,  over the years, the designs have been known to strike a chord with many  knitters, lovers of handknits and others with no knitting experience.

Cables  and great textures are a constant passion and are always incorporated  into the designs, but that doesn't mean designs are not simple to knit,  because they are. Maybe a little challenging sometimes but who does not  like a bit of a challenge in life?





My name is Yasmin but I am Jessyz all over the internet and I blog at The C Side.  I am software developer turned stay at home mom, turned crafter and crochet designer. I have always loved making stuff or taking apart stuff, I should have realized earlier that it was what I should do in life.  I love the color blue, drink too much coffee and probably waste too much time on Pinterest checking out all the pretty, wonderful and smart things out there.






Thanks so much to all these lovely ladies for their sponsorship!

September Sponsor Spotlight!

Who can believe it - another week has gone by already! We keep trying to have adventures around here, but end up spending all day staring at an adorable baby boy ... can you blame us?



When I can pull myself away from this adorableness, I've found a few fun things on the internet to share:

A gorgeous new chevron blanket pattern from Purl Bee.
Loving these chalkboard tags from Kate's Papergoods (via Marta Writes).
Help Karen help some of her amazing Nairobi friends!
Loving these coffee cup cozies from Pickles.
Wishing my hair was longer so I could style a fishtail braid like this!
Fall-colored hand knits in Ozetta's shop make me excited for the leaves to change color!
French Press Knits shares some easy to follow mods to size down her felted slipper pattern.
The Radical Self Love Manifesto - perfection.
I'm LOVING the new e-book from The Brown Stitch - Layering Season is the perfect fall purchase!
Looking for a few new cowl patterns? Check out the trio from Through The Loops.
Yummy brownie sundae in a jar recipe!

loving lately

Sep 16, 2011

 {not Katie, but a great photo!}

I knit because when I watch a film, my hands get bored.
I knit because I love to learn and I want to know the mechanics of how things are made.
I love the long slow process of knitting - there are no corners to cut, just the repetitive actions that lead to rows appearing!
wearables magically growing out of the needles.
I need to create.
I find it exciting that I am creating fabric.
Knitting is methodical and helps you practice concentration.
Knitting teaches you to SLOW DOWN and smell the roses.
Knitting is either right or it is wrong: you have either made a stitch, or you haven't.
I love that knitting is considered a 'Grandmothers' craft' but there is so much potential and possibility for pushing knitting forward into the future,
with the artists and pioneers of the new school of knit, and so many people willing to make the effort to get excited about this timeless craft.
I love to take old crafts, and subvert them, or bring them up to date.
I love to carefully craft something by hand, I love thinking about the person it's being made for,
I love contemplating how many thoughts are held inside each and every stitch.
To knit is to love: it is a labour of love! I love the mistakes in knitting, dropped stitches,
little holes, wonky seams - these are all the markings of a piece made with love and by hand.
Knitting is useful, practical and easy!
I love yarn: colour, fibre, texture, thickness, thinness, bumpiness, shininess, and I LOVE to make my own handspun wool!
(And secretly, I find pleasure and satisfaction in untangling balls of wool!)
I knit to contemplate future possibilities, or reflect on the past.
Knitting is like a meditation: you focus on the action, then your hands and muscle memory takes over; the rhythm continues,
and you are submerged into your own thoughts.
Many things have been worked out, resolved whilst knitting.
It is calming, peaceful, solitary, social, old, new, borrowed, blue.
I knit because I can, and because now I am hooked!

The same goes for crochet by the way, I am rather fond and fairly accomplished of that too! This short documentary about the work of designer Helen Rodel sums up what I love about crochet, and inspires me to strive to be an artisan too.



Tammy on Rowdy Kittens wrote a great list called 5 Life Lessons I've Learned from Knitting.

In Knitting Through It: Inspiring Stories for Times of Trouble, I love this excerpt by Amy Holman in her short story The Rising Tide, on how knitting helped her through unemployment.

"Knitting has stitches and patterns and textures and colours that mix and mingle. Once the stitch is understood, it's just a rhythm you can follow. Knitting a scarf ordered my mind when I had trouble re-writing a proposal for a book on how to get published so that I could return to it refreshed and flowing. The repetitive stitches are especially useful when thinking structurally, as for the chapter outline of the book.

"Knitting is connection, the unravelling of yarn to pull loops through loops to create one fabric.

"I dream big and don't plan well, then see that planning might work along with the dreams."


Why do you knit? What do you love about your craft?



Katie blogs at Je Suis Une Monstre - a wonderful blog about knitting, Katie's everyday life, and her gorgeous shop updates! Swing by and tell her happy birthday (she's just turned 24!!)!!!

Why I Knit {Guest Post from Katie Probert}

Sep 15, 2011


Two squares are better than one! Now that Owen is just over three weeks old, we're starting to get back into a rhythm, just a little bit day by day. This means I'm figuring out when I've got knitting time, when is best for napping, and what I can and can't get done around the house as well.

Proof of a bit of routine is these two squares - somehow getting one more square done than I've gotten done in previous weeks seems like a huge accomplishment to me! It means I'm still on track for my ten squares this month, gives me hope that I can get three done next week, and means I'm definitely getting into a new normal!

How was your square making this month? I'd love to see your squares, shared in the Linky Tools below!

{This is charity knit 280/10,000. I'm knitting 10,000 items for charity in my lifetime as part of my Ten Thousand Project.}

knit a squillion: week six

Sep 14, 2011

{image from Srsly Liz's blog}

I'm the featured sponsor today over at Srsly Liz ... and she's hosting a giveaway! Head on over to win a free Simple Slouch Hat of your choice!

Oh, and the winner of the Chocolate Mints In a Jar Giveaway has been announced - head on over to the post to see if you've won!

giveaway at Srsly Liz today!

Sep 13, 2011

yesterday i finally took an hour or so to head out on my own - no Zach, no Owen, just me and a few errands. This is what happened ...


It was all on sale, and all purchased for some fall-colored items for the shop. None the less, my husband would like to state for the record he does not condone this sort of yarn shopping. Unless there's a hat in it for him. Or a hat and a pair of mittens. Or maybe a sweater at some point ...

yarn explosion


I've listed nine new hats in the shop today - six of which are pictured above! Pumpkin, sungold, grey, navy - even a few wool hats for those who live in colder climates!

Plus, I'm working on a few cowls in some gorgeous fall colors, which I hope to have added to the shop in the next few weeks!

As always, if you love the Simple Slouch Hat but don't see a color that suits your fancy, shoot me a note on Etsy and I'll do my best to work up a hat in the color of your choice!

new in the shop ...

Sep 12, 2011





Our hospital had a company that went around and took professional photos for all the newborns. Of course we took advantage, which meant that not even a week after we were home from the hospital we had a disk in our hot little hands, full of adorable photos of our little bug.

Thanks to Shutterfly and a few coupons, we got the wonderful announcements above in the mail last Thursday ... and after a marathon addressing session we managed to get them all in the mail before the weekend was out! The announcements are great quality, the photos look amazing, and it feels amazing to have this already taken care of!

sending out birth announcements


Two weeks with Owen locked up tight, and we are still loving every minute of being near him. At his two-week check-up we learned he's growing at just the right rate, has put on almost a full pound to his birth weight, and can charm the socks off every nurse he meets!

Next week is our last week home as a three-some before Zach has to head back to work and Owen and I are left home on our own all day! We'll miss the papa time to be sure, but I'm looking forward to forming a new routine with the little guy!

Next week I hope to get back into the swing of blogging regularly again with a few simple posts and such. Until then, here's a few things I've been loving reading this week:

To feel is to live. Great quote.

Shauna had a simply wonderful shower for her soon-to-be-here little boy!

The latest bread Elise made sounds like her best yet - I may just have to try it out myself in the coming weeks!

Loving Sandra Juto's shots of her Wrist Worms ... such great reminders of fall and handmade goodness!

Slacker Beanies are back!!! Slacker Beanies are back!!

Liz is joining forces with her adorable boyfriend to bring His and Hers coding genius! Can't wait for the new site to be up and running!

Jen Renee is headed to Renegade in Chicago, and I'm loving what she's bringing with her!

loving lately

Sep 9, 2011

no matter who or how you choose to love, as long as it's consensual i'm all for it.

-

pink isn't just for girls.

-

don't put anything on the internet you'd be embarrassed for me to read.

-

your stuff does not define you. other people do not define you. where you live does not define you. what you know does not define you. only you can define you.

-

college is not necessarily the answer. only go if you truly know what you want to do, and it's the best way to get there.

-

life is precious.when in doubt, choose kindness.

-

people are generally kind, thoughtful, and generous. don't be quick to judge them or think they're out to harm you.

-

you can cross the street by yourself when you learn to ACTUALLY look both ways.

-

books can become the gateway to another universe if you let them. so can music.

-

i'm probably not going to care what you want to pierce, what color you want to dye your hair {or how long/short you want to wear it}, what clothes you want to wear, or how you choose to express yourself through fashion/art/music/vocabulary/etc - remember, i have shaved my head, dyed it almost every color of the rainbow, have tattoos, been pierced in a variety of places, and have worn some RIDICULOUS things. it probably won't shock me.

i will, however, care immensely over the content of your character and your soul. as long as those are solid, pierce and dye away!

-

there is almost nothing better in the world than the smell of a little boy's hair after you've been playing outside. i'm sorry if it embarrasses you when i smell your head far too often in the summertime - i used to do the same thing to your uncles when they were little. it's like a drug to me.

-

your father is a superhero. he quite literally has the power to swoop people up, make them feel more loved than they've ever felt, and set everything right in the world. never second-guess that about him.

-

don't believe everything your grandmothers tell you ...

what i want my son to know, part 1

Sep 8, 2011

yet again, i've managed to only make one square in a week. i'm telling you what, having an adorable infant at home can make it hard to want to knit as much!


it has also apparently sucked away my desire to take decent photos!

in all seriousness, i have been knitting quite a bit - just not squares. a thing or two for Owen, a thing or two for charity, and a bunch of things for the shop ... hopefully for a large update next week! squares however, have not made it onto my needles as much as i'd like. hopefully i can remedy that over the next few days, and also get back into the swing of taking better photos again!

i set a goal of knitting 10 squares a month for Knit A Square. in august, i managed to knock out 17, so i'm ahead of the game still. with just one square so far in september however, i've got a ways to go if i want to reach this month's goal!

in the meantime, how has your square knitting been going? are you reaching your monthly goals?





{This is charity knit 279/10,000. I'm knitting 10,000 items for charity in my lifetime as part of my Ten Thousand Project.}



knit a squillion; week five

Sep 7, 2011

Lately, all I can think about is fall. It's a bit tricky to actually get into the spirit because I live in San Diego and the weather rarely reflects the correct season. But I am celebrating it myself by baking sweet smelling bread, changing my sheets to warmer pattern and sipping hot tea in the afternoons and evenings. Eventually the crisp air will come to San Diego and I'll be ready with scarves and boots to greet it.



Here are a few things I am loving for fall : this bread recipe, lululemon vinyasa scarf, David's Tea, madewell short boots




Thanks so much to Elise for this amazing guest post, giving me some time off to enjoy my new little boy Owen! Elise blogs on her site EnJoy It, and runs a fabulous Etsy shop as well! Pop on over and tell her hello!



This simple cowl can be made by anyone who can cast on, bind off, and perform the knit stitch!

Lately I’ve seen folks pinning pictures of cowls, rocking cowls in their outfit posts, and sharing their desire for cowls for the fall season. It didn’t take long for me to get sucked in, and quick as can be I grabbed a skein of yarn from my stash and whipped one up for myself.

Making one of your own is as simple as one skein of chunky yarn, some large needles, and a few hours of knitting time - and my new free pattern!

NOTE: Instructions for this cowl come with directions for making with three different weights of yarn. The specs below list all of those yarns, along with all the corresponding needle sizes. To make  your cowl, you will only need one type of yarn, and thus just one of the needle sizes.

YARN

One skein I Love This Yarn! Solids (100% acrylic; 355 yds / 325 meters per 198 grams)
or
One skein Lion Brand Wool-Ease Chunky (80% acrylic, 20% wool; 153 yards / 140 meters per 140 grams)
or
One skein Lion Brand Thick-N-Quick (80% acrylic, 20% wool; 108 yds / 99 meters per 170 grams)

NEEDLES

One set size US 11 / 8.0 mm needles
or
One set size US 15 / 10.0 mm needles
or
One set size US 17 / 12.75 mm needles

NOTIONS

Darning needle

GAUGE

7 sts x 16 rows = 4” thick n quick yarn
9 sts x 18 rows = 4” chunky yarn
12 sts x 22 rows = 4” worsted weight yarn

FINISHED MEASUREMENTS

7.5” wide x 42” circumference

SIZES 

one size fits most adults

PURCHASE PATTERN HERE

Aiden Cowl

Sep 5, 2011

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