Summer-Autumntime Catch-Up Time: the Rio Calina Cowl

It felt silly to title the post with Summertime since we are getting down into proper Fall here, and this project just screams fall to me, even though I made it when it was 95 degrees out with 100% humidity most of the time.

I mean, just hit me right in the face with that tree bark goodness.

I, like every other knitter in the world, have a deep, deep love for Cat Bordhi. I did not make any of her projects for myself, but when I taught knitting and worked in a yarn shop, I helped countless others to understand her genius so that they could have their very own bizarre and wonderful project.

Cat Bordhi specialized in making seemingly impossible shapes possible. Her instructions resulted in mobius scarves springing forth fully formed from your needles without the need for sewing, ingenious folds added to hoods, cowls, sweaters, and vests that gave them elegant drape and superior function, and socks made two-at-a-time on a crazy-long circular needle. These project exude cleverness and it always made me smile when someone came to me with a Cat-Bordhi-based question, because I knew I’d be having all kinds of fun for the next 30 minutes as I decoded her brilliance for another new knitter.

Cat Bordhi passed away last year, and she left a free pattern for everyone to remember her by: the Rio Calina Cowl.

In this meditative bit of knitting, the only rule is to not think too hard. Cat instructs the knitter to establish a base ribbing pattern, how to make a cable in this pattern, and then to just cable whenever the mood strikes you.

There is no rhyme or reason, there is no repeatable rhythm. Just flow.

I tried not to impose any structure on myself whatsoever, just let the project be whatever it wanted to be. I loved watching the swirls and eddies of the cables turn into a gnarled tree trunk, and I loved tracing out the individual paths that each line took on its way through the process.

The yarn I chose for this is a super basic, tried and true woolen workhorse, Patons Classic Wool Worsted, letting it be elevated by the process itself. (Colorway is 00225 Dark Gray Mix, if you’re interested in those things.) I didn’t really pay much attention to the dimensions listed on the pattern either, just knitted until I ran out of yarn.

Another part of this pattern’s genius comes in the finishing. This long rectangle gets turned in on itself and sewn together into a spiraling tube.

Then, when it is draped and worn, it flops over like a nautilus shell, showing both the cables and the reverse side in a flattering asymmetrical shape.

That Cat Bordhi. She really knew what she was doing. She never seemed to take knitting too seriously, and her patterns often read like a friend teaching you how to do something new. But at the same time, her inventive shapes and techniques raised knitting to a higher art form, making everyday makers of things feel just as clever as she was.

It is bittersweet that this is the first of her projects that I have ever made for myself, but I will think of her every time I wear it and try to live in the meditative space that she put me in while I was making it, which is hard when your brain is constantly going a thousand different directions like mine. Just a tiny bit of mindfulness and warmth on a fall day is sometimes all you need to keep going. Let the cables carry you.

Summertime Catch-Up Time: Leafy Baby Blanket

I will spare everyone my apologies for not posting in a long bit, and instead present some leafy goodness.

Ooooooh. Aaaaaaah.

This lovely thing was made for my nurse co-worker Lauren, as she is the only person I know who most embodies the picture-perfect Instagram-worthy nursery dream, and I felt that she needed a blanket to match.

The pattern here is Leafy Baby Blanket by Leyla Alieva, and I feel like that simple pattern name really doesn’t capture the sculptural beauty of these leaves.

I mean, come on.

That is just some elegant stuff. I didn’t want to stop taking pictures.

The pattern itself is a little…fiddly, as you are doing lace pattern stitches on every row, ending up with reversed yarn overs and decreases through the back loops throughout. But isn’t it worth it?

Yes.

The yarn I used for this one was Berroco Comfort in the worsted weight, color Ash Grey 9770. Which is really the most gorgeous silvery gray, slippery and silky and drapey like nobody’s business. The yarn is a little bit splitty due to its loose spin and multiple strands, so I can’t say that I had the best time during the actual knitting of the pattern, but the sheen and stitch definition more than makes up for it, I have to say.

In order to fully take advantage of that silky drape, when I was finished with the knitting and weaving in ends, I soaked the entire thing with Soak wool wash and pinned it out to within an inch of its life, opening up all those lace bits and making sure that the purl ditches between the leaves were fully opened.

I paid special attention to the seed stitch borders, because I wanted to be sure that those laid perfectly straight.

Then, after it was dry, I steamed the entire thing with my new hand-held steamer, just to be sure that the acrylic and nylon components of the yarn didn’t cause the blanket to snap right back into a crumpled mess.

Gently steaming acrylic blends (and I mean gentle, you’ve got to have a really, really light touch with these things) turns an otherwise plasticky yarn into something soft and pliable. And, when you’re starting with something as slippery and drapey as Berroco Comfort…well, it makes the whole thing turn into silk right before your eyes, without sacrificing the spring in the yarn that makes those leaves pop out from the background.

*** content warning ***

After this blanket was completed for Lauren’s equally picture-perfect baby girl Emery, she ended up being born too early, and only lived on Earth for just a few hours. But even though she wasn’t with us long, she made a huge impact on her family and all of my nursing friends.  Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to give this gift to her before this happened, but it became a small piece of her nursery and the memory of Emery after the fact.

Emery was born on my birthday, June 21st, so I do feel a connection to her memory, and I hope that this small piece of my love helps Lauren and her family to remember and honor her. They deserve it.