Two! Two! Two FOs in One (post)!*

Today was a beautiful day, with temperatures in the 70's. So it seemed a perfect time to show off my two most recent FOs, both for dealing with the cold. But since they are primarily for the cold at work (which lasts indoors much later than it does outdoors), they are appropriate and still necessary.

On Friday, I wore my finished and blocked Ivy's Cowl (Ravelry link only, sorry!) to work. It was comfortable and warm, and best of all, not bulky. Here is a picture of it once blocked:



and here it is on mine own neck:


I'm very pleased with it - it was a relatively quick knit, not overly complicated, but resulting in something light and airy that is still cozy. Also, I managed to not screw up the teeny bit of laciness in it, which creates the ivy. That's a first!

Next, the Owlings (Ravelry link here, other link here). These are based on Fetching, one of my very favorite patterns, but they are supposed to look like little owls, instead of plain cables. Originally, I thought I might add little beads to make them look like owls' eyes, but after giving it some thought, I realized that since I was making these for work, and work would mean they would quickly get used and dirty, adding the beads would not be the best idea.

I am pleased with how they turned out, though I found the pattern a little bit more fiddly than the Fetchings pattern. I do like the longer cuff and the bindoff much better, and will likely incorporate them into further pairs of Fetching.

I did make one really stupid mistake, which I didn't realize until I went to start the second one. After the initial 4 x 1 ribbing for 4 rows, the pattern wants you to do 4 x 1 purl ribbing for one row. I had done 4 rows of that ribbing as well, which is why they kind of puff out just above the bottom. But I didn't think it ruined the overall look, and I really didn't want to re-knit the first one, so I just kept the mistake in the second one!

The true colors in the yarn (Dream in Color Classy) are somewhere between the shades in the two pictures above. They are soft, comfortable - not too loose or too tight - and kept my hands nice and toasty while letting me still have the use of my fingers.

The way things are set up at work, there are really only a few times a day when you have any opportunities to talk to any of your co-workers: morning line-up, lunch, and getting ready to go home. When I was getting ready to go home on Friday, there were three other people left in the staff room, and when I put the cowl and fingerless mitts on the table to put into my backpack, they all noticed them. They were very complimentary, and amazed that I had made them myself. One person said, "This is exactly what we all need. We should get the yarn and have you make a pair for everyone." The first part of that statement is true. The second part got no response from me ...

Anyway, I'll be taking them both with me again tomorrow, since it's supposed to be cooler outside, and there's a chance of rain later in the afternoon (adding another layer of cold to the cellblocks). Though I would love the weather to stay more spring-like, at least I can still get some use out of my latest FOs!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

*Hm, does anyone remember those commercials for Certs, where one lovely model would say, "Certs is a breath mint," and the other one would say, "Certs is a candy mint," and then some guy would show up out of the blue and say, "You're both right! Certs is two! Two! Two mints in one!"? (God I'm old. Do they even make Certs any more?)