Yarn Along and a Geo Flannel Skirt

Happy 12 Days of Christmas!  We still have a week to go celebrating the birth of Christ, and a lot of treats to get through!  My mom sent her annual fudge, friends from church gave us lots of yummy things to eat; our fridge and hearts are full.

On to today's makes!  I actually finished this skirt a few weeks ago (I think before the kids had their winter break even!) but I wanted to make a cowl to go with it, and it took me until now to finish it.  

But first the skirt!  It is double napped flannel from Robert Kaufman, and I admit that I bought it primarily because I just loved Tasha's outfit.  I loved it last winter when she first posted it, but kind of chickened out about the fabric for myself, but I just couldn't get it out of my head, so when several of my winter projects tanked, I decided to take the plunge and inject some fun into my winter rotation.  

I went with my vintage Anne Adams straight skirt pattern because full skirts are just not my jam right now.  I'm pretty happy with the fitting changes I made to this pattern over the fall, and it is a pretty quick and easy make.

I really like it!  It is warm and soft, and was so nice to sew with.  I went on ebay and hunted down this navy blue cotton pullover (a size medium--woot!), although I have a gray wool pullover that will also work.  I think I have a teal top that will coordinate as well.  A win for the wardrobe!

I pretty much set everything else creative aside to work on this cowl for the last two weeks.  I could have made it easier on myself and done it in garter stitch, but I was afraid I wouldn't like it as much.

I went with a modified waffle stitch because it is easy to memorize, easy to read, and knits up quickly while looking interesting.  I rather like the result, although I did get bored and frustrated a few times.  I had to frog back more than one set of repeats because I misread my knitting.  I measured a cowl I made for my husband way back in 2004 because I like the size of it, and went from there.

I cast on 50 stitches, and knit the pattern (2 waffle stitch repeats, and then one row that was offset, just for visual interest) until I finished two skeins of yarn.  It is slightly longer around than my husband's, but I'm okay with that. 

I do have one repeat in the very middle that is one row too many, but hopefully it doesn't stand out too much.  I put the cowl on with that row more to the side, so I think it isn't too obvious.

I still have a skein of yarn caked up, so I'm planning to make a quick pair of fingerless mitts with it.

The wool-alpaca blend is so soft and warm!

Back to the skirt: I do have a slight bit of wonk going on in the back; I had to add a second set of darts to fit the skirt to my waist, and I have some diagonal drag lines on one side, just to the right of the zip.  I think it is partly a function of the flannel being a bit sticky, and my slip is too big so there is a bit of bunching underneath.

I'm pretty pleased with the waistband effect--I managed to get the vertical lines perfectly lined up for one pattern repeat on the front side of the waistband.

As for reading, still plugging away at Rod Dreher's book.  I'm watching Nikita on Netflix (more on that later) and waiting for Person of Interest season five to start, although it looks like CBS isn't allowing free streaming of their current shows, so I might have to wait for summer to watch it on Netflix.

Just the facts:

Geo Flannel Skirt: me made, Anne Adams 9481, Robert Kaufman flannel from fabric.com, metal gray zip, dress bar/hook, snap, bias tape for hem

Nautica navy cotton pullover sweater: ebay

Cowl: me made, Stockbridge yarn from Valley Yarns, in Kiwi

Earrings: Ireland

Tights: Foot Traffic

Boots: Payless (last winter)

Linking with Ginny for Yarn Along!