mØmmacat's blog

My cousin and I could not be more different. I love her more then anything, don’t get me wrong. We are just complete opposites. and that’s ok. We basically grew up together. I was an only child and spent a lot of time at her house, so in a way she’s like my sister (if I’d had one). We moved to Florida when I was 14, but she and I kept in touch off and on through the years.

I’m a brunette (mostly), she’s blond. I’m rather short, she’s tall. I have a gaggle of kids and a husband and a house in the boonies. She’s a single apartment dweller living in the city. Growing up, at most times we were inseparable and sadly we haven’t seen each other since my college graduation back in ’98. I’m not saying these differences are bad, just different. We are both content with our life’s choices. Another reason I love living in the future. We “talk” almost every day now, even being on opposite sides of the eastern seaboard.

Her mom, my aunt, is the one who taught me my first bit of knitting way back when I was 10. I still remember the pinkish lavender aluminum needles and baby pink, yellow and blue acrylic yarn from Woolworth’s we used. I made a square. barely big enough to cover my baby doll.

What the heck does this have to do with knitting and cowls?

This fall I got an email from my cousin with links to pictures of 2 extremely over priced cowls, asking if they were do able. Of course they were. I was so excited to take on the project, and so honored that she asked me to make them for her. One thing my cousin and I do have similar, is taste. I immediately showed her yarns from my favorite companies and she choose well. The first was Malabrigo in the Polar Morn colorway and the second was Lorna’s Laces Charcoal. Grey and black. almost completely opposite, hmmmm.

The yarn arrived and I got to work on the first one. Polar morn is the most beautiful color ever. Malabrigo is the softest and yummiest yarn. This one was to be long and chunky. Using giant #13 needles and the yarn doubled, I set off and was done in all of 9 days. It was beautiful and she loved it.

I got busy trying to finish other projects and then realized I needed to get started on the other cowl before the cold weather really came. I set aside Thanksgiving weekend to begin and maybe finish. This cowl was to be half the size of the first one, I should whip it out in 4 days, right? I cast on and got about 3 inches done through all of that weekend. The black yarn made it impossible to work on in my usual spots (on the couch in minimal light while the rest of the family watches tv, or in the car, etc). I love the yarn, I love how it knits up and how it feels and smells. The dark color and smaller needles just made it really hard to work on and thus took me 6 weeks instead of 6 days. doh.

I think these two cowls are equally beautiful as they are polar opposites. One is long and flowy, the other is sophisticated and tailored. While both beautiful and remarkable in their own way. Kinda like Steph and me.

eta: the little black cowl was just mailed off to her. I hope she likes it. I didn’t get a really good shot of it. I hope she sends one that will show it nicely.