In my last post I told you that I was making a cowl for a friend visiting from England, but that there were only 3 days in which to make it. The deadline was met!
Yep, I finished it in the car on the way to see her. It’s not as thick as I would have liked but I simply ran out of time. Good thing I used the crocheted linen stitch instead of trying to do the knit linen stitch, which would have taken much longer!
Since the strips of color in the yarn weren’t very long, it looks more like a rainbow camouflage than I had hoped, but it is still very pretty and my friend loved it!
And, since she’s from England, my chef boyfriend Chris decided to do a Southern dinner for her! We started off with mini crab cakes with jumbo lump crab meat and a dill sauce (no picture for those). Then we had a low country boil. Now I should explain a bit about this Southern tradition: the low country boil is, I believe, unique to the coastal area (aka “low country”) of South Carolina and traditionally includes corn, red potatoes, some kind of sausage, and shrimp. These ingredients are all boiled together in one pot (often outdoors over a propane burner) with bay leaves or bay seasoning of some sort, strained, and then dumped right onto the PVC coated table cloth. Well, we did ours inside and didn’t dump everything on the table, but here’s what it looks like (after 6 servings have been taken out):
It’s a messy meal because the shrimp aren’t peeled yet and you eat everything with your fingers, but it’s very, very tasty! Chris also made some homemade butter (with some herbs I can’t remember mixed in) for the corn and potatoes.
Then he made dessert: mini apple pie tarts! But these were no ordinary tarts: the crust was puff pastry, the apple pie mixture was fresh apples, apple sauce, and bourbon, and there were two unusual additions. A baked cheese cracker was added, along with candied bacon that Chris made his own rub for. It was AMAZING:
I must say it looked better in real life — you know, I’m sure, that it’s hard to photograph food. But it was very delicious and I was so proud of Chris! Everyone loved all of it!
Hopefully we’ll get to see our visiting friend again before she leaves, but she’s headed to the mountains for a few days with the person she’s staying with, so we’ll see.
Well, that’s all for today. There’s another post lined up but it can wait until later tonight/tomorrow. Thanks for stopping by!
not your average crochet 
The yarn you’ve used in the cowl perfectly complements the stitch you’ve used – it’s beautiful.
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Thank you very much!
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Gorgeous! …and now I’ll be wanting a snack 😀
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Thanks!
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It looks beautiful! My variegated wool with linen stitch didn’t work, the colours just weren’t right 😦
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Thanks! It’s tricky to get variegated yarns to work just right a lot of times, isn’t it?
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a beautiful cowl, I really like how it lies (not all sticky up, you know what i mean!!) 🙂
And as for Chris – have you thought about trying to clone him?
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Hahaha I am so lucky to have him, for sure! Although if he had clones there would also be a dramatic increase in video game sales, lol. And thank you — I think that the drape is usually nicer with thinner yarn.
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so beautiful!!
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The cowl turned out beautifully and I would have never guessed it was crocheted. What a fabulous stitch. Glad you were able to finish it for your friend. Sounds like you all had a very nice dinner. A guy that can cook like that…keep him 🙂
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Thank you very much! Haha yes I do intend to keep him. 🙂
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Beautiful cowl!
I have a skein like this and definitly I have to try this stitch. Thanks for sharing!
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Can I ask what yarn you used for this? My Granddaughter saw this and wants a blanket, with these exact colors. Kids!
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Sure! It was Nuble by Araucania. I don’t remember the specific colorway, I’m afraid, but that should lead you in the right direction! It’s really soft!
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I have been trying to wing a cowl made with this stitch and I am having trouble. Is there a pattern you used? Whenever I make my chain, join it, and then do my first row of stitches into the back hump, it always ends up looking uneven, even though I make sure my chain isn’t twisted.
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It’s been a while but I believe I joined to work in the round, that way I didn’t have to deal with beginning and ending rows, and I just sewed in the ends to help them smooth out a bit. Hope that helps!
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Yes, I am working in the round also. So did you just spiral around without chaining up a row? That is what I ended up doing once I worked out my problem with joining.
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Yep, that’s exactly what I did! I think it’s easier that way. 🙂
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Can I ask you, what size crochet hook you used? And, I’m sorry, but I don’t understand what you mean by spiraling around without chaining up a row? How many chains to make the cowl?
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I used a really old hook that’s about an E/4. I don’t remember how many chains I used, since I improvised the design. I just wrapped the chain around my neck to see if it was long enough for what I wanted. I started with an even number of chains, if that helps. What I mean by spiraling around without chaining up a row is that there aren’t actually rows to this, it’s like one big long row. You never ch1 and start a new row, you just keep the “sc1, ch1, skip 1 st” pattern going. Does that make sense?
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Yes, it does make sense! thank you!
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I am interested in the name of the yarn and color. Did I miss it in your article?
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