Sunday Cowl

Remember on Saturday I mentioned getting distracted whilst working on a bit of Decluttering?  Well I'd been visiting various blogs earlier and came upon a simple crochet pattern for a cowl .......The Sloppy Sunday Cowl by the lovely Heather from Pink Milk Blog.   In the midst of cleaning up piles of paperwork, it occurred to me that pattern would be just perfect for the skein of King Cole Bamboozle a friend had given me for my birthday.  This yarn ranges from bits of fibre down to strands like embroidery silks ....... so I've been hanging off, trying to find something that would only need the 1 skein and would also show off the lovely variations.
I started on it Saturday night after dinner and such and then sat down with it and my morning coffee on Sunday and had it finished in a couple of hours!  I left a couple of twists in mine as I prefer the twist when I'm wearing the cowls single.  The other week at work, one of the girls was asking the best way of getting a skein wound up into a ball, so I thought I'd share for anyone else who might be wondering how else you can do it aside from the old fashioned using the back of a chair method.  In the pics below you'll see what looks like a wooden clothes line, called a Swift,- it works the same way as a rotary clothes line and can be opened to hold whatever skein you have - pop it on so the yarn isn't so twisted over on itself ......... then pull the outer thread to the ball winder and you are ready to turn that handle. I usually pop my finger in the strand between the two to keep the tension a bit looser.  The Swift and Winder together will set you back about $100, however the time, and the sanity saved is definitely worth the investment!  Just before you take your newly wound cake of yarn off the winder, fold the label from the skein and pop it into the centre so the ball comes off the winder with the label in the centre so you have the details still with the yarn.

And over the weekend I found out I was one of the June winners from Cottage Craft Angora for some 100% Quivet which will be knit into one of their scarves!  I'll be getting the Artic Blue.  I've never even felt what quivet is like, so I'm really excited - although it will likely be another couple of weeks at least before it arrives here from Canada.  Quivet is from the Musk Ox which you can see in the pic below.  Well I have the next couple of days at work before I'll have the chance to be getting back to numerous homefront lists waiting to be tended to!  What will you be doing over the next couple of days I wonder??  Have a fantastic day,  Sharm