Hi there! I know it’s been a while since I last posted something. It all had to do with lack of inspiration, money and time. No, those lack-offs aren’t doing my crafting any good! Good thing I got some back in a higher amount.

I’ve been busy with all sorts of things and one has to make choices what one does with its spare time when there’s little of it. I’ve been reading more and more lately. I’m not the kind of person who can knit or crochet blindly, so I can’t do both simultaneously. This reading time punched a big whole in my crafting time, but I enjoy it nonetheless.

Last week I was very bored. Imagine! Bored? With all those hobbies you’ve got?! Yes, well I really was. I was yearning for some crochet! I took to my stash and found four lovely balls of 100% silk (!!!) yarn I got as payment for lining a bag for my sister-in-law. I would never buy this yarn myself, since it’s way over my budget, but boy that yarn is soooo soooohooooft! I knew it was meant to go around somewhere to the skin, so a quick cowl came to mind, and that is exactly what it became.

I had four balls of 100 meters. This would be enough for a spacious cowl to wrap around my neck. I crocheted with a ‘moss stitch’ which gives it a bit of woven texture. I alternated between two colors (one solid and one self striping) every two rows and as soon as half of the yarn was crocheted I would stop with the solid color and continue with the self striping color until I ran out again. Then I would start the process with the other two tones and what solid colors I had left, leaving a long tail to sew the ends together.

Soon I realized the stitch would be way too dense to drape well. I solved that problem in the end by wet blocking it aggressively. It drapes very well. I think a lot of it also has to do with the nature of silk.

My sister, always up for a photo shoot 🙂 

As you can imagine, I would never have chosen these colors myself, because I’m more for the summer colors and less for the fall colors. But hey! It’s fall after all, and I think this combination is stunning! Because of the sheen of the yarn the colors are very deep and the gold and copper tones really look like they might be just that!

More info:

yarn used: Debbie bliss luxury silk DK 100 m per 50 g  in colors;

solid: 1;ecru and 14;buttermilk

self-striping: 42;spice and 43;Tyrol

crochet hook: 3,5 mm

width: 40 cm after blocking

lenght: +/- 120 cm after blocking

stitch used: moss stitch as explained on this blog

warmth: Not as warm as wool might be but warm enough to make you very happy wearing it 🙂

Do again?: Yes! This is a very straight forward crochet project. The different colored yarn would make the cowl more interesting.

I’m very happy that my crafting blues is finally over! To make things even better I’m going to the Breidag next week in zwolle, which is a wool event for every knitter, felter and crocheter alike, with more than 60 stands to choose from. I’m really looking forward to take home some beautiful yarn to help inspiration and break the chain! Of course afterwards there will be a big report on here of all the gorgeous stuff I found, I promise 😉

Have you ever had the crafting blues? What did you do to get going again?