The Finished Product

I finished the first contest entry - the mobius cowl.

I am so amazed at the finished product. When I first envisioned this design I was thinking that the cable pattern would be on one side and the rib pattern would be on the other with a twist that displayed both at the same time. But using the Mobius Cast-on started the pattern from the center of the piece and the pattern worked out from there on both sides except that the cable was on top with the rib on the bottom unless the piece was turned over and then the pattern was reversed with the cable on the bottom and the rib on the top.

I was also unsure about the length of the finished piece. When I did my computations I figured how many stitches I would need to cast-on in order to get a 48" length. But again the Mobius Cast-on caused the piece to look small while in process of being knitted because the circular needles were twisted, too. It wasn't until after I bound-off the edges that the piece unfolded to the original design length. I was so pleased.

Another point of "holding my breath" occurred as I reached the end of the 2nd skein of yarn. I had calculated how many rows I wanted and was pretty sure that the 202 yards of yarn in each skein would be enough. But as I neared the end of the last row knowing there was still a binding off to follow, I was eyeing the remaining yarn left and hoping I would not need to tink the bound-off stitches with the last row in order to finish the project. But my calculations were "right on the nose". The piece was finished and there was yarn left over. (Not much, mind you, but still some left - six yards to be exact - I measured.) That was fine with me.

I still need to post the pattern and photos on Ravelry as a new designer. I have a site as a knitter, but not as a designer. I still need to take photos of the finished piece and type a decent copy of my written directions. Once this is done, I will be ready to mail the cowl to the yarn company as an entry in their contest.

I was able to buy a skein of the other yarn that can be used in the contest. It is called Willa. On Tuesday, being Valentine's Day, all red yarn was sold for 35% off the regular price. I took advantage of that sale and bought a skein of red Willa yarn. I plan to make a scarf from it using a different variation of my design I used for the Cowl.

I still need to name my projects. I have several ideas but haven't determined which will be used. For the Cowl I am considering the following:
1. Here A Cable, There A Rib
2. Not Your Basic Rib
3. One Way Or The Other
4. Accordion Cable Cowl
5. Cable Me One Side - Rib Me The Other
6. Two For The Price Of One

For the Scarf I am considering one of the above but also Reversible Front Cable Back Rib Design. I may take them both with me to my knitting groups and see what ideas are generated there. Anyway, I have one project complete and the second one soon to be.