Latest Ravelympics project ever?

Nearly there!


But I need buttons! In the past, I have had good luck at John Lewis, but am not near one at the moment. What are your go-to sources for buttons? Bonus points if it's in Oxford and I can mosey along and see them in person, but I'm guessing it'll have to get t'internet.

Easter mystery?

We have a flower box on our front windowsill. It had dead plants in it from last summer for a while, but last month I finally re-planted it with spring flowers. Since it's right there, I check it as I leave in the morning, dead-head the spent flowers, quickly make sure it's not too dry, etc.

Today, I noticed that one part of the planter had soil that seemed to have been stirred up or disturbed. I figure it was birds or maybe the white cat that hangs around- no big deal. One of the young petunias was unearthed, so I dug around to put it back into the dirt. And found something weird and hard just under the top of the soil.

Eh? Scraped around a bit, and uncovered enough to see that it looked like an egg. By this time, I had to rush to catch my train, so I asked The Limey to check it out. It was an egg all right. But what an egg!

I've put it here next to a normal chicken egg. It's huge!

Maybe a goose egg? How'd it get in my planter? Easter egg hunt hijinks? Who'd dig up my petunias to hide it? Is it still good? Can we eat it? Was it fertilized?

We'll never know.

Tamesis Cowl

Okay, this is the latest and last design for a while, I think...I don't have any in the active pipeline, but hopefully will get my act together and change that.

Do you have one skein of that something special? Here's the project for you:


My first non-garment pattern, this is the Tamesis Cowl. Given the River Thames' old name, this pattern twists and turns and has a little of everything. A bit of lace, a bit of cabling, and twisted stitches everywhere. It's knit in the round and is the perfect quick project.


I've written this pattern for two different weights of yarn: chunky/bulky and light Aran/heavy DK. In truth, however, it is easily customisable to be knit with almost any size yarn to almost any finished size, just by doing more or fewer repeats. The pattern is fully charted, as well as written out line-by-line for those who prefer to work one way or the other.

This green one is knit in Fyberspates Scrumptious Chunky, and is beautifully soft, with enough body to stand up for itself when worn.

This pattern was test-knitted by the loverly Helen and Tineke and so I have other versions to show you.


Helen knit hers in Fyberspates Scrumptious as well, but in the Aran weight. The resulting cowl is also butter-soft, but you can see the thinner weight gives the cowl a good drape.



For those who prefer their wool woolly, Tineke knit hers in Blacker Designs' 100% wool Aran. It turns out to have nearly the same dimensions as the Aran-weight Scrumptious, but as you can see, has enough body to keep your ears warm, should you wish:


Tamesis costs £2.50 and is available to buy on Ravelry, or with the "Buy Now" button at the bottom of this post.

Details
Green cowl:
circumference: 38 cm / 15 inches
height: 20.5 cm / 8 inches
Fyberspates Scrumptious Chunky (45% silk / 55% merino, 122m / 100g), 1 skein
US 8/5.0mm dpns or circulars for magic looping

Blue cowl:
circumference: 57cm / 22 inches
height: 23.5cm / 9 inches
yarn: Fyberspates Scrumptious Aran (45% silk / 55% merino, 165m / 100g), 1 skein
needles: US 4 /3.5mm dpns or circulars for magic looping

Pink cowl:
circumference : 54 cm / 21.5 inches
height: 22 cm / 8.5 inches
yarn: Blacker Designs Aran (100% wool, 55m / 50g), 1 skein
needles: US 6/4.0mm dpns or circulars for magic looping

Tension (not super important for a cowl!)
Bulky: 27 sts and 18.5 rnds = 4inches/10cm in twisted cable pattern
Aran: 25 sts and 23 rnds = 4inches/10cm in twisted cable pattern