Noro, lovely Noro.

Right before bed last night I jotted five things I am grateful for into my Gratitude Journal. (This is a new practice for me and one which has already resonated into my waking life the day after. I recommend it.)

One of the five was Noro yarn. Specifically, the Noro Matsuri I am currently knitting up into Cavendish 2. (My first Cavendish was a "legal wedding" gift for B&A.) You can read Cavendish 2's origin story here.

It's been slow going on Cav 2. I am drawn to bigger projects because I love being cozy. And giving cozy. But, my ADDish self is a better match, in a way, to smaller projects. With a smaller project, like Felicity, my natural tendency to hyperfocus is rewarded with a finished object in a matter of days.

Bigger projects are great teachers and friends for me though. They forgive long lapses between contact without judging or becoming frustrated. They reinforce the value of going back to something even when I thought it was over to try and try again. They give the ultimate gift, utter satisfaction, which comes with finishing a long-term project...something started so long ago, with yarn bought even longer ago.

But back to the yarn. The Noro. Which, yes, I am nuts for. Noro yarns are often variegated. And they are known for having a multitude of colors in one skein that magically dance and blend and form a feast for the eyes. And this just tickles my brain in such a way that happy chemicals are released into my system and my soul sighs deeply.

Simple pleasures...

What yarn do you love?

Stacked Eyelet Cowl

The pattern can be found here.  I used US Size 4 circular needles (24 inch).

The second photo shows the true color of this luscious yarn.  The first photo better shows the pattern and eyelets.

I finally abandoned the Sunday Market Shawl and decided to "test knit" this cowl pattern.  I thought this would make a good Plan B item for Kelly if she didn't groove on the Noro Striped Scarf.  Being a kinesthetic learner and an ace reviser, my knitting within a project inevitably improves the more I knit said project.

I do love this Noro Cash Iroha.  It is silky and luxe and these skeins have held up well to repeated knitting and frogging (of the Sunday Market Shawl).

The cowl is warm and soft.  It was easy to knit.  I practiced Elizabeth Zimmerman's cast-off method, but abandoned it about halfway through because it didn't seem to be doing much to prevent the curling and I thought I might run out of yarn (you cut a long tail for this method of casting off and I am very bad at approximating tail length for a project with this many stitches).

(This link is awesome!  It looks like I may have been doing the EZ sewn bind-off incorrectly :-p)

The curling is not a deal breaker for me, especially once the cowl is on.