Gretchen Tracy’s stash is filled with one or two skeins of various yarns that she is always trying to knit up in creative ways. Usually, she waits for the yarn to tell her what it wants to be…no matter how long it takes.
Gretchen’s stash of Berroco Ultra Alpaca Fine took a while to decide, but the Simple Eyelet Cowl that it became was worth the wait. Knit almost entirely in stockinette, this cozy cowl is covered with carefully place eyelets and features reverse stockinette edging. The pattern uses less than one skein of yarn and is available for free on Gretchen’s website!
How long have you been knitting/crocheting?
I learned how to crochet in college and then I transitioned to knitting about seven years ago. It took me a long time to get comfortable with knitting, though, because it’s a lot more difficult to fix mistakes. My original plan to just never make any [mistakes] was a resounding failure. Luckily, practice goes a long way towards better technique.
What made you choose this yarn?
This design was definitely inspired by the yarn. I’ve knit a number of fingerless gloves in the same fiber, but I had never done a larger project with it. And it just makes such pretty little stitches that I thought a stockinette-based pattern with a few dainty accents would suit it nicely.
If you could knit/crochet something for anyone in the world it would be…?
Oh geez. I wish I had a good answer to this question, but I don’t, so I guess I’ll have to stick to the honest answer instead. I have a design for a hat in my head. I call it the “Basic Bitch,” and I would like to see Mindy Kaling wear it on “The Mindy Project.”
What’s your favorite thing about knitting?
I love everything about knitting. I guess my favorite thing is that it allows me a creative outlet and gives me a lot of control over material, colors and fabric design. It also makes everything more fun (because watching TV while knitting is a million times better than just watching TV). Plus, the knitting crowd is pretty awesome!
Do you have a cool design you want to share? Or did you recently finish a project with Berroco yarn? You can email Ashley: apalumbo@berroco.com or post it to the Berroco Lovers forum in Ravelry.