"Flying Geese" by Peg Blechman FO

Patttern: "Flying Geese" by Peg Blechman

Source: Ravelry - "Scarves etc. 5" by Quince and Co.

Yarn: Cascade 220 Superwash

Source: Romni Wools, Toronto

Colour: #1926 "Doeskin Heather", #190A (Unnamed rosy-cream colour)

Needles: 5.5mm, 60 cm circular

Start: February 20 Finish: February 26, 2016

Modifications: None

All done,  blocked and ready to go. A straightforward little colour work project intended to slip over the head scarf of a mom soon arriving in Toronto after escaping from Syria with her husband and 5 sons.

So glad when buying yarn for this I managed to keep my own desire in check for a wooly, graphic version like the one in the pattern. I can't imagine what this woman will have endured prior to arriving here but I know she'll have better things to do than worry about hand washing a cowl as she settles into a whole new life with her family.

The Superwash 220 is soft and drapey post blocking - 'doesn't really even feel like wool compared to the yarns I've been working with in recent months.

Its not ideal for colour work. The yarn is lean and there's no bloom post blocking to fill in little gaps an irregularities. In the beautifully modelled shot below you can see how the small variances in the white lines that run between the "geese" really stand out as a result.

(Hudson's head is HUGE, as are his ears and his neck  - while it looks a bit narrow on him it is a comfortably generous size on a human head!)

('Probably doesn't help that being super wash I had to block it pretty aggressively to ensure it didn't shrink back from its pinned dimensions and stayed true to size.)

This yarn was supposed to match the original 220 in colour and gauge but Cascade has revised the description of the yarn to a "light weight worsted" because the Superwash version consistently knits up smaller than the original.

No wonder I had to use a 5.5mm needle rather than the 4.5mm that should have given me gauge.

I found out the other day the intended recipient and her family will be a couple of weeks later arriving than originally planned.

So with the extra time and remaining yarn I'm fiddling around making a pair of hand warmers with the leftover yarn.

I've got a lined one ready to block. Once its dry I'll see what its like and go from there.

(Right after I figure out how it somehow got to be March when it feels like Christmas was about 3 weeks ago!)