Unfortunately, the party is Friday.  If I have any chance of finishing this I need to complete the body today.  I’m not confident that’s possible.  I’ll knit like crazy today but I have a good 10 inches left on the body.  Not likely.

I do have a Plan B but I really really really want to wear this.  The fabric of the Tosh Merino Light is awesome.

Back to the knitting.

I’ll catch you on the purl side.

Phew, the party is less than 2 weeks away!

Not surprisingly, I find myself daydreaming about a more intricate project – thick, cushy cables mostly. Makes sense since the lows have been in the 20s lately.

Most of the knitting is straight garter at this point – easy to pick up at any time. And I can attest to the simplicity of working through falling asleep on it mid-row.

This pic is for Audry who asked about the seam. I think it works well in this design. I’m curious what it would look like when worked at a regular gauge for the yarn. I might experiment with that at some point.

I mentioned that I’m daydreaming about other projects. I’ve even started to plan my Christmas vacation knitting and I’m getting excited! Squishy cables and a new to me yarn that’s to die for. I can’t wait to share my plans with you.

For now though, I’m plugging away at Obsidian. After today I only have one more weekend to work on it so I have to stay focused. It’s amazing what not having the option to put down a project does for progress.

I’ll catch you in the purl side.

The cowl is done. I took a quick cell phone pic to see how the cowl fit. Ignore the sweats please – it was 6:30 am. After trying on the cowl I decided to add another inch. It’s so hard to keep going after you think you’re done, but the cowl is the centerpiece of this top so it has to be right.  I was relieved to see the TML happily stretching – and that Jeny’s Slip Knot cast on was living up to its claim.

This is the perfect kind of deadline knitting – garter stitch, very little shaping – and a clever wrap and turn to make no-purl-in-the-round garter. And at this busy time of the year that’s the exact amount of brain power I have for knitting.

I’m still very happy with my yarn choice – TML in Onyx.  Black with bits of subtle variation. I find myself looking forward to those occasional bits of silvery gray but from a far it still reads black. Fun for the knitter and fashionable too.

Now that I’m done with the cowl I’m getting ready to start the body. I can’t say I’m sad for those 6mm needles to go away. I actually knitted more slowly with those lincoln logs. I can’t wait to see how the body – knitted on 3.75mm – will work up.

Trying on the cowl got me excited for the FO.  The simplicity of this pattern is inspired. The many faces of garter stitch – big gauge, even bigger gauge and the drape of a single ply yarn.  I think I’m going to love wearing this one.

I’ll catch you in the purl side.

I obsessed the way I always do about what to wear – never considering knitting something because, well, it’s a month away.  But once I remember Obsidian I couldn’t stop thinking about it.  I needed to wear Obsidian for that party.

Needed.

I love the cowl pulled all the way down.  It’s what sold me on this design.

The pattern is pretty simple too.  If you’ve ever made a top down raglan you should have no trouble with this.

After reading lots of people’s notes I learned that a *super* stretchy cast on was needed for the start of the cowl (the part that stretches around your whole body) so I went for Jeny’s Stretchy Slip Knot Cast On.  I didn’t want to take a chance that the star of this design wasn’t going to work.

Since this will be an aggressive (but doable, right?) deadline I psyched myself up with a look at some of the FOs.  Here are a few of my favorites.

As for my Obsidian, I went with 4 skeins of Tosh Merino Light in Onyx.  Paired with a slim fitting black skirt and black knee high boots, it’ll be a modern take on the little black dress.

I’ll catch you on the purl side.