F.O. Contour Lines by Laura Aylor

Contour Lines is a pattern that I knit, as part of a MKAL (Mystery knit-along) called Just For You, that designer Laura Aylor was hosting before Christmas.  For those knitters who had bought one of Laura's patterns in the past it was free, a thoughtful way of thanking her customers.  For the remaining participants who paid for the pattern, she donated the earnings to a charity of her choice.  Each day, starting December 13th, she gave the participants a part of the pattern until the final clue on December 24th.  I was able to keep up with the KAL until the last two clues where my life was too crazy to find time to sit down and knit. I am happy to say I finished this beautiful cowl in January and can't be more pleased with the result.  Here's my version:

Pattern:  Contour Lines
Designer:  Laura Aylor
Yarn:  Madelinetosh 80/10/10 Worsted MCN
merino/cashmere/nylon
300 yards
Colourway:  Sand Dune
Needles:  4.5 mm

Notes:
1)  The side I am photographing with the buttons is in actual fact, the back of the cowl.  The front of of the cowl dips down into a perfect "V", making this perfect for wearing under your coat, and keeping you cozy on those cold days.

Back of cowl

Right after ripping out my sweater before the yarn got a good soa

2)  This yarn was previously knit up in a sweater I never liked.  It was way too nice of a yarn to be wasted, so I ripped out my sweater, soaked the yarn and reskeined it all.  I still have enough yarn left to make a hat and mittens to go with this cowl.  Even the buttons are from an old sweater I had many years ago.

3)  And just as a side note, I recently bought a new lens that I am using for this blog.  I visited New York City over the holidays and my husband bought a new lens for my camera at B & H Photo for my birthday/Christmas present.  If you love photography then this is the store for you. The variety of cameras and products available was incredible, I have never seen anything like it.  The sales staff were extremely knowledgeable.  I absolutely love taking pictures and wanted to bring my photography skills to the next level.  I wasn't sure if I needed a better camera.  The extremely knowledgeable employee I spoke to really spent time with me, asking a lot of questions, before giving me advice.  He recommended spending my money on a good lens instead, and to practice with that for a while.  My new lens can still be used on an upgraded camera.  A lot of the pictures I have been putting on Instagram and on my blog recently are taken with my new Sony Macro FE 50mm lens.  I still need a lot of practice, but I am really liking the odd picture that I take.  I am looking forward to practicing and improving my skills.

The knitting world is amazing isn't it?  There are always so many KALs going on at any given time.  However, the Mystery Knit-a-longs are always a bit of a risk, as you have no idea what the finished product looks like.  In my experience I find that if I stick to MKALs hosted by designers whose work I love, then I usually am happy with the finished product.

Linking up with KCCO.