Martha Stewart neck scarf

My cowl is a project no more! I must have dropped some stitches and it bugged me. I ripped it out and wound it back into a ball. I had been eyeing this Martha Stewart neck scarf on Ravelry.com and I started it with the same yarn. It is probably a bit bulky for this pattern, but I am learning the whole increase/decrease thing with an easy weight yarn. It looks good so far. I have ordered some gorgeous merino wool silk blend yarn for my cowl. There is a free pattern on Ravelry for one that looks like a $750 Burberry cowl. It is made from merino/silk yarn in a taupe and it is really pretty. If you haven't visited Ravelry yet, you need to. It is free to sign up and you can browse through patterns that are free and not free. You can keep ones that are your favorites, you can keep pictures and info on your projects (finished and not finished). Pretty cool site for all you knitters and crocheters out there! The pic of the cowl is the one from ravelry. I hope mine turns out that good.

Knitted cowl

I have just recently started knitting a cowl. I am using a Paton acrylic/wool mixed yarn in a charcoal grey. It has little bits of colored yarn throughout that I really like. I looked at many cowl patterns on Lionbrand.com and also at Ravelry.com. Most of them were fairly simple, just a long process of going round and round with that many stitches. My son wonders why I would spend so much time knitting something that in his opinion is "weird". Boys! I cast on 115 stitches and I am just knitting 4 rows then purling 4 rows. I do notice my hands cramping a bit if I work on this too long in one sitting. I will just chalk it up to technique, not that I am older and probably have beginning signs of arthritis. I sometimes feel like the knitting actress in the old Aspercreme commercial-ha ha! This pic is from the first night. I have added another 8-10 rows now. Will post more pics as I progress. I like having a knitting project to work on while sitting with my family. I can do it and still talk and spend time with them. When I sew, I feel so challenged by the steps and new instructions that I have to really focus on the sewing. It is very relaxing for me when I can devote the time to it. How about you? Does knitting or sewing relax or stress you out?