I recently got my hands on this amazingly soft Ancient Arts Fibre yarn in Big Squeeze, their 100% merino bulky weight. Â I chose the Frolic colourway, which is an earthy mix of cool dark greens and reddish browns, Â and reminds me of a lush redwood forest. Just look at this:
Isn’t that amazing? Don’t you just want to dive in and swim in all that cozy goodness?
Of course, when I laid out all that beautiful yarn, this immediately happened:
Cats. They have that deep instinct to immediate lay on anything that has your attention, don’t they? The yarn is so amazing I can hardly fault him for wanting to lay on it, since really, I wish I could nap on it, too. Â Gatsby is sporting his long hair winter coat at the moment, so he’s extra fuzzy.
Let’s get to the knitting! I knew right away that I wanted to knit  a cozy cowl, and the Arika Cowl has been on my to-knit list fever since the pattern was first released. It’s a really satisfying knit as it’s really easy to memorize,  knits up really quickly, and takes just a couple of skeins. This sort of knit is perfect for me at the moment. Babies and little kid wrangling means lots of picking up the knitting and putting it down 30 seconds later, so I appreciate knits like this.
Guy recently got me this beautiful Rifle Paper Co edition of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
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Wow!! Now that is a seriously scrummy yarn those colours are to die for.
That colorway is gorgeous! No wonder Gatsby needed it for himself 😉 The first time I visited my sister after she got her cat, I took out my knitting and instantly the cat was in my lap, and my dogs will always lay on my yarn if I put it down for a hot minute.
Alice in Wonderland, one of my most favourite books. I also have a beat-up edition I bought decades ago, with the wonderful original illustrations. This version looks gorgeous, I should look for it. I am currently reading it to my son, who is developing a passion for the English language (which I totally encourage).
On the knitting side, Arika is a great pattern, can’t wait to see how it knits up with this gorgeous yarn. I’m in the middle of another Jane Richmond pattern, Mc Milne (second version). I love her patterns.
Absolutely fascinating color way!
Your copy of Alice in Wonderland looks amazing! I’ve got the same copy I bought when I was 10 or so, and would love a fancy version, but I’m still quite fond of the one I grew up with! Alice in Wonderland movies, though, that is a collection I have grown over the years 😉
The yarn you picked for your cowl does indeed look like a forest! All worked up, the colors are sort of like the beaches out here in fall – wet and windy and all of the leaves everywhere, ha!
Looks like just the mellow project to get my knitting mojo back. Thanks for sharing, beautiful yarn. And cat.
What an interesting design. Do be vocal on how wide that back piece is on your neck. From what I can see, I would personally like it wider but that’s just from lookin’. The yarn is awesome. I wanna touchy touch that.
I just knit myself an Arika cowl as well. I love it in the variegated colors and it was such a pleasant knit. I am actually wearing it right now!
That yarn looks so much darker once knit up. Still very beautiful.
Can’t wait to see your cowl.
I almost squished the iPad screen against my face to feel that beautiful yarn. I am using some Ancient Arts DK weight for a sweater design and am so in love with it. I’d never used it before now, but it has very quickly risen to the top of my favorite yarns list. I can’t wait to see that gorgeous cowl finished (just in time for spring ).
So so pretty. I hope to carry that yarn in my new shop : )
Wow, the colours on that Big Squeeze yarn looks AMAZING! And 100% merino? Swoon! Can’t wait to see this cowl knitted up!
Love that yarn color! Can’t wait to see it all knit up. 🙂
This promises to be a beautiful cowl, I do love the name of the yarn almost as much as the yarn itself. And Julie, I am ashamed to say I am jealous of your beautiful Alice in Wonderland edition, what a gorgeous book to have on ones book shelf!
That is gorgeous yarn! And Gatsby’s pretty gorgeous too.
I love your pretty book. What a great idea it is to replace your favourite classics with lovely versions. Your book shelves will look so good.
Gatsby knows what’s up – that yarn is beautiful! I can ever resist a fancy edition of a favourite book! 🙂 x