Somebody on my list will score some Rifton, one way or another.It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s the Super Snood! This snood (rhymes with “food”) is truly super.įully reversible and fluffy as all get out, you’ll want this around your neck all winter.Ī two-row repeat makes the Super Snood a cinch to memorise. My holiday gift pile is not nearly teetering yet, but it’s no longer at stage zero. Nothing against purling, but it seems to defeat the purpose of garter stitch. The Hap Cowl is knit flat, which will make a nice change. After all of Hei’s K3togs and SSSKs, I’m also in the mood for some relaxing Old Shale/Feather-and-Fan. I can use my skein of Skies over the Cumberland (pale blue) as the Hap Cowl’s solid, to re-introduce a third color to the mix, secure in the knowledge that my color choice is guided by Jill Draper’s sure hand. (Even under the tutelage of KonMari, it’s Nubbin City around here.) I know I talked about saving up all my Rifton leftovers for a future blanket project, but the Hap Cowl seems perfect, particularly since the nubbin in question only has two of the Appalachian Trail colorway’s four colors. Having cast off Hei, I feel a powerful compulsion to cast on a Hap Cowl before I lose track of my precious Rifton nubbin. It’s handy to be able to knock on the door and get an egg, a quick evaluation of medical symptoms, or a knitwear model.
(“Neck brace” is not an attractive visual, but that’s what very short cowls often bring to my mind.) But I can see the advantage of having a smaller accessory that you can fold over and tuck into the neck of your coat for warmth, or open up to cool off, especially for someone who drives a lot and doesn’t want to be fussing with a long and winding cowl. Hei is kind of an oversized turtleneck shape. My one, highly personal, reservation: the short shape of this style of cowl has always struck me as less wearable than longer cowls that you can wear like a long scarf, or double-twist around your neck when it’s cold. I’ll have to wash it eventually, and probably will wash it before giving it to anyone. Solid doesn’t have to mean plain.įor once in my life, I didn’t block a handknit. This stitch pattern would be even more useful with a solid color yarn the nooks and crannies add interesting shadows. But as with any other minor nuisance that has a worthwhile payoff, I got used to them. Hei shows off the evenness of Rifton’s color sections, which you can perceive only after you’ve knitted it during knitting, it feels unpredictable.Īt the beginning, I bristled at Hei’s many eyelets, formed by left- and right-leaning double decreases.
When working with a self-striping or ombre yarn (Rifton is a cross between the two), the absence of shaping (Hei is a straight-up cylinder) is a plus because you don’t have to think about whether your stripes of color are going to get fatter or skinnier and whether that effect will be pleasing or not, as you do with triangles, crescents, or other shapes built with increases. I’m giving this Hei cowl/snood pattern a hearty thumbs-up as a Rifton showcase, and as a solid pattern in any yarn. But then it sneaks up on you again, another tender transition.
There are moments of disbelief-this time it’s not going to change, or this time it’s going to change abruptly, like a Normal Yarn. The subtle color shifts are exciting, every time. Noro Silk Garden), I am adding a number 3: Rifton. Even if you have a full-blown case of permanent KonMari fever, there are some yarns you hoard, down to the last scraps and shards.