Bust The Stash: Finished Object - Mirri Cowl 2

So I'm having a knitting moment. More to the point, my objective is to post a photograph of every finished Bust the Stash project, on completion. So here's Bust the Stash Project 2: Mirri Cowl knit with Shibui Staccato:

Lord, I love this yarn. I love this pattern. The stitches did not twist. The finished object is beautiful and it drapes well and it looks great. So here's to an unqualified success (at 413 yards for a modified large).

Wait - I can qualify it. I actually had to weave in a new ball on my bind off row?! (It's ok.) And that means I have 180 yards of this yarn remaining. That's code for: I'm going to have to knit another freakin' pair of fingerless mitts. Yup, back to 23 items on the stash list.

Bust the Stash: Thoughts on the Mirri Cowl

Hideous experience notwithstanding, I like this cowl:

Mirri Cowl (modified size)

I made a modified large (there's a choice between small, which is like a short tube, or the large which loops around the neck twice). Because I knew I wouldn't have enough yarn to make the large (I had 366 yards), I determined a smaller number of stitches to cast on, divisible by both 5 (the rib pattern repeat) and 8 (the eyelet body repeat). The number that sounded good to me was 280 stitches. The pattern instructs 320 for the large. Then, though the pattern instructs to knit the 16 row eyelet repeat 3.5 times in total, I repeated 2.5 times only. Alas, vis a vis my last post, I was still short 3 yards of yarn.

As you can see in the photo below, it's not a bulky cowl - not with these dimensions in fingering-weight yarn - but I prefer a subtler silhouette. The second Mirri Cowl, which I'm making now, has the same circumference stitch count, but I will work the recommended number of eyelet repeats which should secure me another 1.5 inches in width.

A Bit of Info About the Pattern:

This is a terrific pattern for a new knitter looking to work in the round while enjoying a tiny bit of skill development / interest with lacework. It doesn't take much yarn in the scheme of things. The large size is calculated to require up to 650 yards of yarn (I think that's quite generous), while the small clocks in at a proposed 400 yards. As I noted above, I was able to make a modified large with less than 400 yards of yarn so I don't think you need to be slavish to the approximations. With my mods (presuming that your stitches approximate gauge), a modified large cowl can be made with 375-400 yards of yarn. (Update: My second version took 413 yards, so let's say you'll need 425...)Yeah, that's more fingering than you might have lying around after finishing a sweater, but I appear to have it 2 times over in my own stash - and my stash isn't that voluminous. Even if you opt to buy yarn for this project - and I think it's cute enough to warrant that - it wouldn't be a particularly pricey venture.


It's also a great pattern for someone looking to make a quick(ish) luxe gift.

A cowl is nothing but practical, even if you live in warmer climes. We all contend with climate control...

The pattern itself is one page in length. It's concise but well-written and error-free.  The fabric it makes is geometric and elegant.

Made in springy wool (like Quince Finch), it sits loftily. Made in a merino/silk blend (like Shibui Staccato), it drapes lightly.

I'm really happy to have found this pleasant-to-knit, lovely pattern though I realize I'd have been unlikely to notice it, had I not embarked on stash-busting exercise.

That's my take on the first of the Bust the Stash projects. Thoughts?

Bust the Stash: Finished Object 1 - Mirri Cowl

I don't know when it happened that "Bust the Stash" got a bit "who cares what goes wrong, I'm forging ahead" - but that's kind of where I landed with the Mirri Cowl. Do not misunderstand. It's a great pattern - so much so that I'm casting it on for the second time in about 10 minutes but, Lord, how did all everything go wrong?:

• Twisted the stitches on the second row but didn't realize it until the 5th. At that point, the idea of re-casting on 280 stitches (my modified number) for a third time (first time failed) really wasn't appealing. Of course, I neglected to consider that this cowl has a right-side and a wrong-side to the fabric. Not exactly seed stitch... So a twist in the cowl means one is destined to see the wrong side of the fabric in some places at any given moment. Mind you, once you double wrap a cowl around your neck, that happens anyway...

• Ran out of yarn. I predicted (with math) that I'd have 5 g of yarn remaining at the end, but that's because I subtracted incorrectly. Doesn't help that I understand all of the complex ways to determine sizing if I can't subtract for shit. I actually ran out of yarn 3/4 of the way through the bind off. Twice. First time, on realizing I was short yarn, I ripped back 10 rows (to maintain the integrity of the lace pattern), subtracted a knit row and also subtracted one of the rib rows at the end. (That go round, I was short about half a row.) Second time I was short a third of a row (though it makes no sense because I cut an extra row?!?!). I used some white Koigu in my stash, held double, to approximate the weight and feel of the more robust Quince Finch. It looks strangely intentional but the first time I tried to finish the bind off with this yarn I realized how weedy it looked with just a strand, hence my work-around, holding the yarn double on the second try. I was out of alternatives cuz there was no way I was ripping back 15 rows, on the third try, to shorten this pattern by yet another row. I'd been burned twice and it shouldn't have been an issue even once!

• Clinging to the idea that I'd have enough yarn to finish the bind off with the just the Finch, I cut every tail (usually I weave them in after knitting new yarn in) and tied the tails with double knots to the yarn end. My desperate aim was to eke out the enough yardage with a last few yards held together with knots - way to compromise the integrity of the work. In my life have I never done this.

• Not to mention that, right out of the gate, I messed with the pattern by making this piece shorter than (fewer stitches in the circumference - which, it turns out, is no issue as regards the finished length) and narrower than (less optimal but still ok) the pattern calls for in the larger size.

On the plus side, I don't have one fucking yard of yarn remaining and, while blocking, I can see that my errors are going to be invisible to anyone who wears this. Here's a little shot of it as it blocks:

Mirri Cowl Take 1 - you can see my yarn disaster work-around on the top left of the scarf (in the bind off row). That's Koigu held double finishing the cowl.

I'll show you how it looks, once dry, and we can decide how it turned out.

Gotta say, my next version will be started from scratch until I don't twist the stitches - whether that takes one time or more. And that second version will be made with 2x the yardage that I used to make this one, so there's no way I'll run out.

Thoughts or feelings?