My cowl that turned into a neck warmer

The other day I was at my daughters cross country meet and it was cool and windy and I wished I had comething to put around my neck. I decided I was going to make a cowl. I came home and found a pattern for one I liked. It used Patons classic wool.

I wanted wool and not some cheap acrylic. Joann's came out with a bunch of coupons for %40 off. I grabbed one and went to Joann's to grab me some wool. But when I got there, the yarn was on sale! Even worse, the sale goes till Oct 1st. And guess when the coupons expire...Oct 1st. So all those coupons are worthless because the yarns
I would want are on sale. Very frustrating. So I went back to the drawing board.
The wool/alpaca yarn I bought at Sheep and Wool festival is sport weight and I want worsted at least. I went through my stash and didn't see anything I really wanted.
I found a bag at the bottom of my closet and grabbed it. What do you think I found? Patons? No. But I found a skein of Wool Ease thick and quick and a skein of Caron simply soft both in red.

I decided to use the acrylic (80/20 acrylic wool blend) and went to find a pattern that uses the wool ease. I did and this is how far I've gotton so far. I need 22 inches before I can think about binding off. I hope to have it done by Wendsday in case I need it.

Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival

This was my first festival of this sort. Other states have this as well. It was in Jefferson, WI. I went on Saturday and got there by 7am to watch the sheep and dog trials. It was quite interesting! I was able to talk to one of the participants who explained how it all works. I watched him work one of his dogs and it sounded like they did pretty well. Then I went to check out the sheep. I saw a bunch of different sheep breeds like Blue Faced Leicester, Romney, Shetland, and others. I petted some and watched a shearer sheep some sheep. It was interesting as well. It's amazing the sheep don't put up more of a fight.

I had lunch and ate a bbq pulled lamb sandwhich. It was good and didn't taste like lamb at all. The highlight was the shopping. I didn't get much because the prices are so high. But I got one hank/skein of shetland/alpaca wool. It's the black picture. I took pics of the lable. This lady raises her own shetland sheep and the yarn is not dyed. I am anxious to knit with it. Then I got a second shein of the Packer yarn. I had one skein and needed another. They are from the same shop. My luxury item I bought was a pair of double knit (lined inside with the same yarn as the outer just connected at the cuff). Alpaca mittens! I needed new mittens and am going to attempt to knit my own at some point.

The last thing I bought was a shawl pin. As soon as one of my shawls is finished I can use it. I hope I can go again next year.

My new projects

My nephew's 1st birthday is coming in November so I thought I would TRY to knit him a hat. I do not know if it will fit him or not. I half expect it to be to small. If so, I need to go at least 1 size needle larger than the pattern says, gauge be darned. I will come with a alternative gift. I am a tight knitter and I need to compensate for that. The other project is a scarf/shawlette. The color is maroon not the red that the picture shows it to be. I am hoping to wear it for church during Advent and Lent. The third picture shows what it's supposed to look like. I choose maroon because I need a little color in my winter gray/black wardrobe. Gray is my FAVORITE color but I need a color pop occasionally. I am 1/3 done with it.