Petal Pink

If you are a knitter, you have probably come across this wonderfully whimsical design.  Kate Davies Designs published the pattern in 2010, and I suspect I found it soon thereafter.  I remember being very excited about casting on, but I didn't have the proper circular needles, and I am not usually a fan of bulky yarn so I had nothing in the stash that was suitable.

And then there was a decision to be made about color.  Should I go for something neutral and in a palette that is owl appropriate?  

I will say that I almost never use suggested yarns for knitting patterns.  In my early knitting days, it was a lack of access, I suppose, and with vintage patterns, the yarn is often no longer produced and/or very difficult to find.  For the vast majority of my knit projects, I simply find a similar weighted yarn in a color that I like, and make it work.

But for some reason, with this pattern, I went looking for one of the suggested yarns: in this case, Rowan Cocoon.  I found it for a great price, and I decided that pink owls would be lovely, whether or not they exist in nature!

I had my needles and my yarn, but for whatever reason, I never got started on the project until November 2019.

After finally casting on, the sweater was completed very quickly.  It's amazing how little time it takes to knit up a bulky weight yarn!

I definitely prefer working with lighter weight wool, but how could I resist these little owls!

There was always a question of whether or not I would add buttons for eyes.  In the end, I decided against it, preferring that the little creatures be a little more challenging to find.

And that just left weaving in a few ends.

Here are the little guys prior to a wash/blocking.

And after a gentle bath . . .

Here is the completed sweater.

I finally wore the sweater and took some pictures.  The only real issue is the yarn.  I paired this with a black wool skirt, and boy does that mohair fuzz get everywhere!!  I am used to having Tino fur hang around my wool clothing, but this is a whole new level of fuzz transfer.  I may just have to find a tweedy wool to make a skirt that won't show the pink mohair quite so well!